Prosecutors accused of gathering evidence during closing submissions in Palmerston driveway murder trial

Lawyers for four men accused of murdering an 18-year-old man on the outskirts of Darwin two years ago accused prosecutors of “uselessness” in their closing arguments over inconsistent and contradictory evidence from drunken witnesses.

Kingsley Alley was found dead by police in the garage of a vacant residence in Palmerston on the morning of 8 October; Police investigators later determined that he bled to death from a stab wound to an artery in his arm.

Over the past four weeks, the Northern Territory Supreme Court has heard evidence from more than 40 witnesses in the trial of four men accused of murder; Crown attorneys and all other defendants made their closing submissions to the jury this week.

In his final address, Crown prosecutor James Moore said Madison Butler, her mother Melissa Clancy, their “partner” Dechlan Wurramarra and another man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, formed a “common purpose” to kill Kingsley Alley early on. hours on October 8, 2022.

“Who committed the specific act or acts that caused the death and at what time? We don’t need to prove that,” Mr Moore said.

“It’s all about common purpose; they were connected by a purpose and had the same agenda.”

Each of the four defendants rejected that suggestion through defense attorneys who told jurors that the testimony of three key witnesses to the alleged murder was “incomplete and unreliable.”

The court heard Mr Alley threw a drink at Ms Butler outside a party one morning in 2022.

Witnesses at the party testified that Ms Butler was “upset and angry” when her mother called Ms Clancy and told her to come and pick her up with the unnamed co-defendants.

At around 2am, a car driven by her father Lesley Butler, who has not been charged with any offences, and in which Ms Clancy and Mr Wurramarra were passengers, arrived to pick up the couple.

Mr Moore told the court the group had devised an alleged “payback” plan to track down Mr Alley and kill him.

“Each of them wanted revenge, each of them jumped out of the car to attack him, each of them had different weapons at different stages,” he said.

Ms Butler’s barrister, David Hallowes SC, said the prosecution’s theory that booze was the cause of the fatal beating was “extreme”.

He said prosecutors relied on the witness’s testimony that Ms. Butler had aggressively threatened to “get” Mr. Alley, but instead quoted a Simon & Garfunkel song to express the opinion of another witness, who was more sober at the time.

“A man hears what he wants to hear and ignores the rest,” he said.

Key witness ‘drunk as a monkey’

Colin Rogan, who was in the front seat of the car that morning and was also not charged with misconduct, told the court that when the group spotted the “young man” all four defendants got out of the car and removed metal poles from nearby roadworks. and attacked him.

“You could hear some commotion, swearing, fighting, fisticuffs, and pipes tinkling,” he said.

“It was late at night, I was drunk as a monkey, I’m trying to remember it all and I probably never will.”

Despite Mr Rogan’s evidence, both the prosecution and Ms Clancy’s defense said Ms Clancy had a broken foot and remained inside the car the entire time.

His charges stem from allegations he joined others in shouting from the car to kill Mr Alley.

But her lawyer, David Edwardson KC, told the court Ms Clancy’s involvement in the murder was a fiction.

“We know Melissa Clancy was sitting right behind Colin Rogan and the Crown says she shouted ‘kill him, fuck y’all double bank accounts’,” he said.

“If she had screamed…she would have screamed in his ear, but (Mr. Rogan) doesn’t say anything about it.”

Prosecutors argued that two different male voices were recorded on CCTV; He claimed that these voices belonged to two men and said “stab him” and “I will stab you again, brother.”

But the men’s lawyers told the court the audio was of such poor quality that it was impossible to identify any of them individually or even prove what was said.

Meanwhile, Mr Wurramarra’s lawyer, Jon Tippett KC, said his client acted in self-defence when he inflicted the fatal stab wound on Mr Alley’s lower arm.

Mr Tippett said Mr Alley attacked Mr Wurramarra with a broken whiskey bottle and Mr Wurramarra made a single defensive blow in response, not realizing it would be fatal.

“Who would have thought that an injury to the arm or armpit could be so tragic?” Mr Tippett asked the jury.

“This was a chaotic incident that was spontaneous (and) pregnant with stupidity and ignorance, and it’s incredibly sad that a young man died,” he said.

Judge Peter Barr is expected to present his instructions to the jury on Monday before the jury begins deliberations.