By Emily Smith
Copyright abc
A witness who says a man allegedly murdered in northern Tasmania was her “best friend” has told the Launceston Supreme Court he angrily demanded a baseball bat on the evening he died.
Brothers Luke Anthony Shaw, 33, Paul William Shaw, 35, and Patrick Kenneth Dolbey, 40, are on trial for the alleged murder of David Wayne Jenkins in George Town, on October 22, 2022.
All three have pleaded not guilty.
Warning: This story contains graphic details of a fatal assault, which may cause distress.
On the trial’s opening day, Luke Shaw’s lawyer Peter Kilduff told the court his client did not dispute he stabbed Mr Jenkins, but said he did it to defend himself and his brother.
Lawyers for Paul Shaw and Mr Dolbey said for their clients to be guilty of murder, the death had to be a probable result of their actions.
On day two of the trial today, the prosecution called witness Crystal Maree Davidson, who said she was socialising with Mr Jenkins at another friend’s house on October 22, before went to her home around 5:30 pm.
She said Mr Jenkins came to her place about 8 pm and was “angry”, intoxicated and “asking for a baseball bat”.
Ms Davidson told the court Mr Jenkins said he needed the bat to “smash Luke Shaw”.
Following questions from Luke Shaw’s defence lawyer Peter Kilduff, she said she initially refused to give him the bat, but after he “got his tone up”, she said she relented, gave it to him and and he left.
She said that was the last time she saw him.
Witness names alleged stabber
The court also heard from Michael Payne and Alicia Jetson-Scott, who said two of the accused, Paul Shaw and Patrick Dolbey, were old friends and visited the George Town home they shared, late in the afternoon of October 22, 2022.
They both independently told the court they saw Paul Shaw take a call from his brother, Luke.
Mr Payne said after the call, Paul said his brother had told him a person was outside his home with a weapon and “screaming for him to go out”.
He said Paul then told Mr Dolbey to go with him to see if Luke was okay.
He said they did not take weapons or anything from his home when they left.
Mr Payne said Mr Dolbey returned around half an hour later and was visibly upset, saying Paul had been attacked with a baseball bat, his brother Luke had come out to help him and David Jenkins had been stabbed.
Asked by Crown prosecutor Daryl Coates SC if he was told who stabbed Mr Jenkins, Mr Payne responded “yeah, Luke”.
Mr Payne said Paul Shaw returned to his home a short time after and described “pretty much the same” series of events as Mr Dolbey.
Mr Payne said both Mr Dolbey and Mr Shaw were “in shock” and “very upset”.
Mr Payne’s partner at the time, Ms Jetson-Scott, told the court the Shaw brothers were not close at the time and it was unusual for Luke to call his brother Paul and ask for help.
She did not believe either Mr Dolbey, nor Paul Shaw, had been drinking or taking drugs that evening.
‘There were holes in his shirt’
Detective Constable Jared Crates, who had been stationed at George Town in October 2022, was also called by the prosecution as a witness and told the court he and a colleague were the first police officers to attend the scene.
He said they arrived at 8:36 pm and found an injured man lying half on the road, who was groaning in pain but could not communicate, and a group of people trying to comfort him.
“There were holes in his shirt.”
Detective Constable Crates said there were multiple stab marks to Mr Jenkins’s back and buttocks.
Detective Constable Crates said Mr Jenkins’s condition then deteriorated and he performed chest compressions for around 20 minutes with a colleague, before the ambulance officers arrived and Mr Jenkins died.
The court heard from a number of other witnesses, including two crime scene photographers from Tasmania Police, who talked the jury through images of the crime scene and of exhibits collected from it.
More than 50 witnesses are expected to be called during the three-week trial.
The jury will travel to George Town to visit the scene tomorrow.
