A key witness in an Eyre Peninsula murder trial has detailed the moments he last saw a 64-year-old NSW man “groaning badly” after an alleged assault at the back of an outback art gallery.
Key points:
- Key witness Robert Miller told the court the pair became increasingly drunk and began fighting
- Mr Miller said the accused tried to put the victim in the passenger seat of their vehicle but the victim kept “sliding down”
- During the alleged assault, Mr Miller said he heard the victim “badly groaning” as he exited the property
Adam Troy Bennett, from Lake Haven in NSW, is accused of drunkenly bashing his intoxicated travel companion Peter Hillier to death at Poochera, South Australia in May 2022.
The pair, both from NSW, were travelling around the Eyre Peninsula in a motor home and had rented a holiday house in Venus Bay, 231 kilometres north-west of Port Lincoln.
Mr Bennett called an ambulance for his friend the following day from a pay phone close to their holiday house, which was played to the Supreme Court of South Australia.
The prosecution claimed the accused told emergency services “lies” that his friend had abruptly ejected himself from the driver’s seat of their vehicle while they were travelling back from Port Lincoln up to 90 kilometres per hour on the day in question.
In the recording Mr Bennett can be heard telling the SA Ambulance operator his friend “sort of jumped out of the car and sort of ran himself over” and that he “tried to look for a pulse but [Mr Hillier] was very cold”.
Key witness, Robert Miller, who owned the Poochera art gallery told the court on Wednesday he was drinking with the two men at the back of his gallery.
He told the court that the pair became increasingly drunk and began fighting after the victim refused to go back to Venus Bay.
The court heard Mr Bennett had offered to buy the art gallery owner’s property, and the pair had started discussing plans of converting the business to a restaurant or pizza bar.
Mr Miller said the accused tried to put the victim in the passenger seat of their vehicle but the victim kept “sliding down” and the accused eventually got on top of Mr Hillier when he was on the ground and pushed a large rock into his face.
Mr Miller said he left the pair during the alleged assault, because the accused man’s large dogs were looking at him, saying he heard the victim “badly groaning” as he exited the property.
The trial also heard from Venus Bay’s Nicole Elliot who managed several accommodation homes, including one that the two men rented.
Ms Elliot told the court she talked to Mr Bennett right after he made the pay phone call to SA Ambulance and also heard how Mr Hillier had jumped out of the car and ran himself over.
“I said, ‘That can’t happen — I’m an ex-ambulance officer, can I check on him?'” Ms Elliot said.
The Venus Bay local said the accused told her not to because Mr Hillier was in the shower.
Ms Elliot said she saw a large scratch on the side of Mr Bennett’s face as she was talking to him.
Under cross examination by defence lawyer David Moen, Ms Elliot added Mr Bennett said his friend was really stubborn and didn’t want the accused to call him an ambulance.
The trial continues.
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