'There's a dead bloke in me bath tub'

[ozpharlap]

A Queensland man who had arranged to have his house cleaned returned home to discover a man’s bludgeoned body in his bathtub, a court heard yesterday.

 

Gympie man Allen James Murray is on trial for the murder of his employee, Graeme Hughes, who was allegedly bashed in the head with a hammer as they cleaned a Goomboorian home on Tin Can Bay Road, near Gympie.

 

Mr Murray, 42, has pleaded not guilty to the charge. He claims Mr Hughes swung at him with the hammer first.

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Yesterday, witness Bruce Pearce told the Brisbane Supreme Court he had left his house in the care of Mr Murray, Mr Hughes and another cleaner, Gwen Thornton, on May 22, 2009.

 

Mr Pearce said he had wanted his home cleaned in preparation for an upcoming engagement party.

 

But at about 2.30pm Mr Murray, who was in charge of the cleaning business, phoned him to say there had been an accident.

 

Mr Pearce told the jury he feared his television had been broken, but Mr Murray, who he had known for 10 years, told him he had been involved in "an altercation" with Mr Hughes.

 

Mr Murray said Mr Hughes had tried to hit him with a hammer, but he managed to get the tool from him. He said he had then struck Mr Hughes.

 

Mr Pearce told the court he believed Mr Murray was "mucking around" until he got to the house and saw Ms Thornton crying on his verandah.

 

Mr Murray met him at the front of the house and revealed he had not checked on Mr Hughes, who was in the bathroom.

 

Mr Pearce said he entered the house and found Mr Hughes dead and bloodied in his bath tub.

 

He was laying face down and a fly screen from the bathroom window was over his head, he said.

 

"I watched his back to make sure he wasn’t breathing ... so I could know straight away if he was dead," he said.

 

Mr Pearce said he then approached Mr Murray, who was in another room, and told him Mr Hughes was dead.

 

Mr Murray broke down and cried and agreed the police should be called, Mr Pearce said.

 

When officers arrived about 10 minutes later, one officer asked Mr Pearce what had happened.

 

He told the court: "I said, ‘there’s a dead bloke in me bath tub’."

 

The jury has heard Mr Murray claims Mr Hughes attempted to strike him with the hammer first.

 

He struck back believing Mr Hughes had been hired by his ex-wife to kill him, the court was told.

 

The trial, before Justice Roslyn Atkinson, continues today.

 

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[shygye]

More likely Chinese organ thieves. Blows to the head would keep the organs in prime condition.

[ozpharlap]

So many cynics on this board ... i am sure we don't harvest organs in Australia

[shygye]

So many cynics on this board ... i am sure we don't harvest organs in Australia

 

Chinese organ thieves.

[Bangkoktraveler]

So many cynics on this board ... i am sure we don't harvest organs in Australia

 

Chinese organ thieves.

 

 

Are there any Chinese in australia?

[ozpharlap]

So many cynics on this board ... i am sure we don't harvest organs in Australia

 

Chinese organ thieves.

 

 

Are there any Chinese in australia?

Legals or illegals

 

I say 1 in 4 people are Asian in Australia these days, even though official figures say it is only 3%

[Flashermac]

 

 

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