The judge presiding over the Mangerton murder trial has been shown first-hand the inside of the housing commission unit where Mark Jenkin allegedly beat Mark Dower to death in 2015.
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Justice Peter Hamill attended the Crana Place block on Friday morning as part of official court proceedings in the trial, which is set to enter its fifth week on Monday.
Accompanied by sheriffs, police officers, court staff and lawyers for both parties, Justice Hamill was taken to key sites both inside and outside the building, including the laundry where a tip-off led police to discover Mr Dower’s decomposing body hidden inside a surfboard bag.
The Crown alleges Jenkin, 46, murdered 56-year-old Mr Dower as part of a prolonged pattern of strong-arming residents for money.
Mr Dower, who once worked as an English teacher in Finland, received superannuation payments from his old job as well as pensions from both Australia and Finland, allegedly making him a target for Jenkin.
Several local residents have given evidence in the trial so far, many of whom have described Mr Dower as a “kind” and “gentle” man, but one who struggled with significant alcohol abuse and was living a transient life.
Others have told the court they recalled seeing Mr Dower in a distressed and injured state inside Jenkin’s unit in the weeks leading up to his death.
A confronting two-minute video played to the court this week – which the Crown alleges was shot by Jenkin – showed Mr Dower visibly frail, semi-conscious and bleeding in the bathroom of Jenkin’s flat on March 22 – less than a month before his body was found.
The Crown alleges it is the voice of Jenkin that can be heard angrily berating Mr Dower and directing another man to physically position him in front of the lens.
Meantime, several witnesses have testified that between late March and early April, Jenkin asked them for help with, or advice on, how to dispose of a body he had inside his unit.
The woman who eventually did help Jenkin move the body told the court he threw the surfboard bag containing Mr Dower’s body from the second-storey window of his unit to the ground below.
Fearful of Jenkin and saying she wanted too keep him “onside”, the woman admitted she then manoeuvred the surfboards so as to conceal Jenkin from the ground-level units as he carried the bag with ‘‘great difficulty’’ into a laundry and stowed it. She placed the boards on top.
Under cross-examination, the woman accepted that while Jenkin asked her to move the body she’d also offered to help.
The court is expected to hear from forensic experts when the case resumes on Monday.