Judge reserves verdict in Thomas Stapleton-Wescott’s double attempted murder trial at Salisbury
Court photos reveal the true extent of an alleged axe attack in Salisbury, with a judge now considering his verdict. GRAPHIC WARNING
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Grisly crime scene photos showing blood-splattered walls in the aftermath of a savage axe attack have been shown in court, revealing the horror of an alleged double attempted murder in the northern suburbs.
The fate of a young man on trial who pleaded not guilty to two counts of attempted murder now lies with a Supreme Court judge – who has reserved his verdict – after he heard claims the man’s older brother “carefully orchestrated” the attacks, framing him in the process.
The brother is not accused of wrongdoing or charged with any crime.
It’s alleged Thomas Stapleton-Wescott, 34, had engaged in a property dispute with 66-year-old Neil Sieben over his late father’s caravan a day before Mr Sieben and his roommate Antoinette Macskimming were attacked and “left for dead” for 19 hours inside their Salisbury home on Anzac Day in 2023.
During the trial in front of Justice David Lovell, prosecutor Melissa Wilkinson submitted the argument was “the catalyst” for what occurred the following night.
It’s been alleged Thomas came back to the alleged victim’s property on his motorbike – disguised by his helmet and armed with an axe – and struck Mr Sieben and Ms Macskimming, 49, with significant force leaving the house “covered in blood”.
The alleged victims’ neighbour Anthony Lawrence Randall, 74, told the court he began to fear for their safety when he saw a man with arm tattoos leave their property the day after the alleged attack.
He gave evidence the man drove past and used his fingers to display a “gun motion”.
“I proceeded to ring Neil to see whether he was all right – I got a gurbly sound,” he said. “I proceeded to run like hell to the house.
“All I seen was blood. I called to Toni, she barely answered so I went up to her bed, got her hands and I said to her ‘hang on, just don’t move, just hang on because I gotta find Neil’. I called out to Neil and he barely answered.
“The kitchen was covered in blood – there wasn’t a part of the house I didn’t see (that) wasn’t covered in blood.
“I found him (Neil) on the side of the bed – blood pouring out of his head and I said to ‘don’t move … help is on the way’.”
Mr Stapleton-Wescott, of Northfield, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of attempted murder and two counts of aggravated cause serious harm – and insists his brother Beau was the “mastermind” of the crime.
Giving evidence before the court, Thomas said he played no part in the attack, and alleged his brother Beau had asked to meet him about 8pm – a few hours after the alleged axe attack.
“He goes, ‘go over the train tracks, turn left at the big roundabout, follow that up and you’ll see me’,” Thomas said.
“He gave me a bag of items and said ‘just go get rid of it’.
“I just took my backpack off, put it into my backpack, zipped it up, jumped back on my motorbike and he went his way and I went my way. He handed me some ID – I think it was something along the lines of ‘here’s the c***s’ IDs’.”
The court heard Thomas then drove to Ambers Gully, in Montacute, and set the bag on fire – without knowing its contents. Inside was pieces of clothing and the alleged attempted murder weapon, the court heard.
The trial has concluded and Justice Lovell has reserved his verdict – with Thomas set to return to court in July.
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Originally published as Judge reserves verdict in Thomas Stapleton-Wescott’s double attempted murder trial at Salisbury
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