Mark Dower was a smart, educated man whose battle with depression and alcohol abuse had caused him to fall on hard times later in his life.
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Born and raised in Wollongong, the married father-of-one had lived some of the happiest years of his life in Finland, where he taught English.
But the sudden death of his father and later his wife from cancer had caused Mr Dower heartache he was not able to overcome. His mental health deteriorated upon his return to Australia and he soon turned to drinking.
By early March 2015, Mr Dower was a frail alcoholic living on a friend’s couch in public housing at Mangerton, despite receiving a monthly superannuation payment from Finland and pensions from both the Finnish and Australian governments.
His extra income was known to those around him – and it is alleged this was the motive behind his brutal death.
On April 16, 2015, a tip off led police to discover Mr Dower’s decomposing body inside a surfboard bag in the laundry of a Housing NSW unit block in Crana Place.
An autopsy revealed he had suffered extensive injuries in the last hours of his life including broken ribs, fractures to his upper jaw, a bleed on the brain and “severe trauma” to the mouth.
Exactly how Mr Dower came to have those injuries is the subject of a NSW Supreme Court trial, which began in Wollongong on Wednesday.
One of Mr Dower’s acquaintances, Mark Jenkin, is accused of his murder.
Crown prosecutor Michael Fox told the court he expected witnesses would say Jenkin had a history of standing over people, including Mr Dower, for their money.
Jenkin’s alleged motive on this occasion was the recovery of $1690 taken from him by police a month earlier; he wanted Mr Dower to tell officers the cash had been legitimately obtained and should be returned to Jenkin.
Mr Dower’s flatmate claims Jenkin came to collect Mr Dower from the unit in mid-March, saying he owed him money.
Mr Fox said he expected witnesses would testify to seeing Mr Dower alive but severely wounded inside Jenkin’s unit a few days later.
A video capturing some of Mr Dower’s last hours show Jenkin abusing him and threatening to kill him while he is injured and in a confused state.
The Crown alleges Jenkin inflicted the injuries on Mr Dower before killing him, then disposing of his body with the help of a woman he had intimidated into assisting him.
He is also accused of conspiring with his step-brother to have the same woman murdered after discovering she had tipped police off about Mr Dower’s body.
Jenkin denies the allegations.
The trial continues.
