Murder heartbreak for grieving dad of James Beel-Endycott
A grieving dad fears he will never get justice for his murdered son after a jury acquitted the man police had charged with his death.
A GRIEVING dad fears he will never get justice for his murdered son after a jury acquitted the man police had charged with his death
Shocked and devastated, 66-year-old James Endycott struggled to hold back tears as he watched Shane Colin Duffy leave the Brisbane Supreme Court a free man.
Mr Endycott's 27-year-old son James Beel-Endycott was knifed in the heart on June 10, 2016, in front of his partner of four months Kamahla Baker.
The father of one died en route to hospital about 25 minutes after he collapsed in front of her.
Just before he collapsed the jury was told he was seen in a violent fight with Mr Duffy outside Ms Baker's home in Beaudesert.
After the fight, Mr Duffy raced from Ms Baker's home to his own.
The prosecution alleged the Toowoomba local showered and changed his clothes then met up with friends and went to the pub for a drink.
A small knife with Mr Beel-Endycott's DNA was found in the area but the court also heard no one saw Mr Duffy with the weapon and his prints were not on it.
Police were unable to locate any clothes with blood on them at Mr Duffy's home and his friends all said he was calm and happy when he met up with them.
Throughout the trial Mr Duffy's lawyers cast the spotlight on Ms Baker, with barrister Damian Walsh repeatedly claiming it was the 33-year-old mother of one who knifed Mr Beel-Endycott in the heart.
Mr Walsh alleged Ms Baker attacked her partner as soon as Mr Duffy left the area and that she snuck the murder weapon back into the home where she washed it and left in a kitchen drainer.
Ms Baker emphatically denied this under cross examination.
"I did not go into the kitchen," Ms Baker told the jury.
"I did not kill him."
She did admit returning briefly to the house to get a jumper because she was cold but this was while a paramedic worked on her dying partner.
"I would not have left him dying if I knew he had been stabbed," she said.
"I became hysterical when they told me he was dead."
She also described the last moments with Mr Beel-Endycott.
"He cried 'Help me babe'," she said.
"It was like someone had got a bucket of blood and tipped it on him.
"It was dripping off him onto the ground in front of the car - it was dripping - he had a lot of blood on him."
Crown prosecutor Todd Fuller told the jury there was no evidence to suggest Ms Baker had anything to do with Mr Beel-Endycott's murder and that Mr Duffy was the sole suspect.
"He (Mr Duffy) took a knife to a fist fight," Mr Fuller said.
It took about one day for the jury to make its decision, with the 12 members delivering their verdict just before lunch on Friday.
Mr Endycott said he was devastated his "best mate" might never get justice.
"Last night I had a premonition - I thought we were going to win but it didn't happen," Mr Endycott said.
"It's really unfair.
"It is totally wrong.
"Justice is really needed, but I can't see it happening."
Mr Endycott remains close with Ms Baker and he said the allegations she killed his son were harsh and unwarranted.
"She watched all of this happen - she was the Crown's star witness," he said.
The Ipswich truckdriver has not seen James junior's son and this has made the tragedy even harder for him to cope with.
Mr Endycott has one other son and two daughters but he said nothing would fill the hole left in his heart by James's death.
"Losing James has impacted me a lot - I cry for him, I miss him," he said.
"I still remember the last time he said 'I love you Dad' - it was not long before he died." - NewsRegional