A jury has been shown images of a clandestine grave where the body of murdered Risdon Vale tattooist Dwayne Robert Davies was found.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mr Davies was last seen a week before his body was exhumed from a shallow grave on a property at Levendale on June 3, 2017.
His wife, Margaret Anne Otto, and best friend, Bradley Scott Purkiss, are jointly charged with the murder and both have pleaded not guilty.
Their trial in the Hobart Supreme Court has entered its fourth week.
On Monday, the jury was shown police footage and photos of the grave site.
The court had previously heard evidence police began searching the area after receiving information Mr Purkiss had arranged a last minute shooting trip to the rural property at Levendale for the day after Mr Davies went missing.
The Crown alleges Mr Purkiss used the shooting trip to move the victim's body from his Elderslie property, where it is alleged Mr Davies was shot in a cannabis grow shed, to the grave site at Levendale.
Earlier in the trial, Mr Purkiss' father Anthony Purkiss told the court when they arrived at Levendale on the evening of May 27, 2017, his son Brad drove off in the ute and did not return for 20 minutes.
Tasmania Police Senior Constable Rance Swinton said an area of interest near a yellow Komatsu excavator and pile of logs, 1.5 kilometres away from a shooting shed used by Mr Purkiss and his family when they attended the property, was identified on June 2, 2017.
"I used a probe ... to examine the ground under the logs which seemed to be disturbed," Senior Constable Swinton said.
"[The surrounding area] was hard, rocky clay. The probe would only go surface deep."
Senior Constable Swinton said the owner of the property had told police he had not used the excavator for a number of days, it was in a different position to when it was last used and he did not pile up the logs nearby.
The court heard seven swabs were taken from the excavator, however they were "unfit" for forensic testing because they had not been property aerated.
Tasmania Police First Class Constable Rebecca Turner photographed the uncovering and removal of a blue tarp containing Mr Davies' body from the ground under the logs on June 3, 2017.
The jury was shown the photographs that depicted a blue tarp, tied with tape around what appeared to be the chest, waist and knees.
The court heard the tarp was fully uncovered at 45 centimetres deep.
"We continued digging another 10 to 20 centimetres to see if there was any other evidence," First Class Constable Turner said.
The trial before Chief Justice Alan Blow continues.
Full trial coverage
- Wife and best friend stand trial for tattooist's murder
- Tattooist killed in cannabis grow shed, court hears
- Accused told employer it would be easier if her husband was dead
- Victim sought firearms for friend in weeks before his murder
- Alleged killer's partner was trying to leave relationship
- Accused murderer used to shoot at Levendale
- Court hears of physical altercation before alleged murder victim was last seen
- Accused killer 'debt-free' after husband's disappearance
- Alleged murderer arranged last minute shooting trip to Levendale
- Dwayne Robert Davies 'obsessed' with television anti-hero Walter White
- Accused murderer attended birthday party for alleged victim's grandson
- Alleged killer confident police would find no evidence of foul play
- Accused told police he was being framed for best friend's murder
- Father of accused's information led police to grave site
- Accused took on father role to victim's son
- Court hears of accused killers' secret affair
- Accused denies knowledge of murder plot
- Murdered tattooist shot at close range, court hears