Johnathon Goodfellow takes the stand, says he feared Jordan Torrans was going to kill him first

The man accused of murdering a beloved young father over a $300 “motorcycle debt” says he did what “anyone else would have done”.

The man accused of murdering a beloved young father over a $300 “motorcycle debt” says he did what “anyone else would have done” in the moment to protect himself because he feared for his own life.

Johnathon Malcolm Goodfellow, 32 of Salisbury Downs, is standing trial in the Supreme Court charged with murdering Jordan Torrans after an argument over payment for a motorbike that he had received. He has pleaded not guilty.

Giving evidence in his own murder trial on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Goodfellow said he had a beer with his dad before starting to cook dinner on the night of September 20, 2023.

He said he’d come to know Jordan Torrans through his housemate, and the two had an agreement where Mr Goodfellow had purchased a mini motorbike from Mr Torrans.

“I paid him $100, and then two lots of $60 transferred by Pay ID later,” Mr Goodfellow said.

He said that he had then been gifted another motorcycle from Mr Torrans, but when he realised that neither of the bikes were running, he sold them on Gumtree for $200 each. 

That, he said, prompted a series of demanding messages from Mr Torrans who told him he wanted the “f***ing $300” he was owed.

On that evening in September, Mr Torrans showed up at the home, knocked on the door and “aggressively” demanded Mr Goodfellow come outside.

When he declined to, Mr Goodfellow said, Mr Torrans barged through the side kitchen door and began assaulting him.

“He got in my face, started pushing me around and then he started swinging at me,” Mr Goodfellow said.

“He pushed me up against the fridge and he kept swinging, and I just had no choice but to defend myself.

“What happened is unfortunate but I ended up stabbing him.”

He said what happened occurred within a “second, a blink of an eye,” and that anyone in the same scenario would have done what he did.

He will continue to give evidence on Thursday.

Alleged murder victim Jordan Torrans.

Mr Torrans died after an alleged altercation in September 2023. Picture: 7NEWS

What was previously heard in court

The court previously heard Mr Torrans was stabbed multiple times to his chest and body with a knife, with the stab wound which penetrated his heart being the one that killed him.

Giving evidence on last week, Malcolm Goodfellow, Johnathon’s father – who he also lived with – said he heard the altercation after Mr Torrans allegedly walked inside the house uninvited.

He then followed the pair outside and saw his son holding a kitchen steak knife.

“I just see the blood coming out from under his (Mr Torrans’) shirt and start dripping on the ground,” Mr Goodfellow said.

Mr Goodfellow said he then saw his son drop the knife.

“He went … into hysterics and (started) going ‘What have I done? what have I done?’,” he said.

“I think Johnathon took his jumper off offering medical assistance and he’s just collapsed on the front, out on the footpath.

“From then on we were trying to stop the bleeding.

“I could probably see two wounds at the time, a little bit of flesh hanging out.”
Mr Goodfellow told the court that at no point during the events of the evening did he see his son stab Mr Torrans.

Mr Goodfellow was arrested at the scene. Picture: 7NEWS Adelaide

Family and loved ones of alleged murder victim Jordan Torrans arriving in court for the first day of the trial. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt.

Jeff Powell, for Mr Goodfellow, in his opening address told the jury that his client had stabbed the victim – but that he had only done so out of self defence.

He said his client was at home “minding his own business” and preparing dinner when Mr Torrans, armed with knuckledusters and high on methamphetamine, tried to “assault him in his own home”.

The trial continues.

Originally published as Johnathon Goodfellow takes the stand, says he feared Jordan Torrans was going to kill him first