A man accused of shooting his best friend in a cannabis growing shed has denied being in the shed at any time on the day of the alleged murder, a court heard on Monday.
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Bradley Scott Purkiss is co-accused with Margaret Anne Otto for the murder of Ms Otto's husband Dwayne Robert Davies.
Both accused have pleaded not guilty.
The Crown alleges Mr Purkiss shot and killed Mr Davies at his Elderslie property on May 26, 2017, before moving the body to a shallow grave at Levendale where it was found by police a week later.
Giving evidence to the Hobart Supreme Court, Mr Purkiss said he had not been in his cannabis growing shed for some time, having already harvested the plants with his brother Wayne Purkiss several weeks before.
"It would have easily been a month, three weeks, before this so-called event," Mr Purkiss said.
Read more from the trial
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- Court hears of accused killers' secret affair
- Accused denies knowledge of murder plot
Mr Purkiss said a lock found on the growing shed by police should have been in a different outbuilding and he did not know anything about a belt, located by police near the shed and later found to hold Mr Davies' DNA, found outside the shed.
Mr Purkiss said on the day of the alleged murder Ms Otto rang him in the morning to speak to him about Mr Davies.
"Marg used to quite often ring me to see what her husband was doing," he said.
"I think there was some drama between them about whether he was going to work or not."
He said he stopped at Mr Davies' tattoo shop, Ink Addiction, before going to visit Ms Otto at her workplace.
"We talked about Doc coming round to [my] home so much," he said.
Mr Purkiss said he and Ms Otto "definitely" did not discuss a plot to murder Mr Davies later that day.
Mr Purkiss said he then returned to the tattoo studio where Mr Davies told him he had arranged for the pair of them to view two Harley Davidson motorbikes that evening at his Elderslie home.
The Crown alleges Mr Purkiss lured Mr Davies to his property with the promise of viewing two motorcycles being driven down from Campbell Town.
The court heard evidence from Telstra records that Mr Purkiss and Mr Davies exchanged several texts about two motorcycles that evening.
Mr Purkiss said the bikes he referred to in his messages were those he had seen in a magazine called Just Bikes.
Accused asked partner to leave
After stopping at his father's house where he arranged a shooting trip for the following evening, Mr Purkiss said he returned to Elderslie at 3pm or 4pm.
His said when his partner Jillian Roberts returned home from work, the two of discussed Mr Davies' visit that evening.
"She wanted me to have a talk to Doc [Mr Davies] to stop him coming up so much," Mr Purkiss said.
"Every day off Jill has Doc seemed to be there.
"She seen home as her, our domain."
Mr Purkiss said he thought Mr Davies may not react well to being asked to limit his visits.
"He would have definitely blamed Jill," he said.
He said he suggested Ms Roberts go out and get some tea to avoid her being present for any confrontation.
Ms Roberts did so, heading to McDonald's at Bridgewater.
Mr Purkiss said at this time he and Ms Roberts were "still happily in a relationship together," contradicting evidence given earlier in the trial by Ms Roberts she had been trying to end the relationship for some time.
Bike meetup alleged
Mr Purkiss said Mr Davies arrived at Elderslie at 7.30pm.
Shortly after, Mr Purkiss said three men arrived, one riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle and the other two in a white van.
Mr Purkiss said Mr Davies greeted the man on the bike as 'Buckey'.
He said there was a discussion between Mr Davies and the men about the potential purchase of the bikes, however, Mr Davies turned them away after allegedly finding out the motorbike was stolen.
"No party was happy at that stage," Mr Purkiss said.
Mr Purkiss said after the men had left he confronted Mr Davies about his behaviour.
"I did mention how he was using me, not only for my drugs but in general," Mr Purkiss said.
"He started sooking, crying. Saying he thought I'd be the last person to do this to him."
Mr Purkiss said, after a physical altercation where he struck Mr Davies in the face, Mr Davies left him and drove off "like an idiot".
The court heard Mr Purkiss then took one of Ms Robert's vehicles to visit his father in New Norfolk before returning to Elderslie at 10.30pm.
This contradicts evidence given by Ms Roberts that both of her vehicles were in the driveway when she returned home after going to McDonald's.
Accused 'concerned' for alleged victim's welfare
The court heard Mr Purkiss became concerned for Mr Davies' welfare when the victim did not attend a birthday party for his grandson, also attended by Mr Purkiss the next day.
"There was a lot of talk in the family," Mr Purkiss said.
Mr Purkiss said after attending the party for a short time, he went home briefly before picking up his father and brother to go shooting at Levendale.
After arriving at Levendale, Mr Purkiss said he "nicked off" for 15 to 20 minutes to dispose of some green waste from his house at Elderslie.
He said he did not go anywhere near an excavator on the property near where Mr Davies' body was found.
When asked by his lawyer Alan Hensley if he buried Mr Davies during this time, Mr Purkiss said: "no, definitely not."
After a short spotlight shooting trip, Mr Purkiss took his father and brother to their respective homes before going to Ms Otto and Mr Davies' home at Risdon Vale at 11pm.
"I was hoping Doc would be back," he said.
"I was answering questions [Doc's family] had for me.
"It was possible I might have been the last one to see him."
When the police were called to report Mr Davies missing, Mr Purkiss stayed at Risdon Vale to answer their questions and did not leave the property until 6am the next day.
Mr Purkiss said he returned to Risdon Vale on the Sunday afternoon and checked in the roof to see if a CCTV box could be located and checked for information about Mr Davies.
At this time the box could not be located and the court earlier heard evidence police found the CCTV box in a shed on Mr Purkiss' property.
Mr Purkiss said he had no idea how the CCTV box got there.
Mr Purkiss said he went to Ms Otto's house at Risdon Vale on both the Monday and Tuesday after Mr Davies was last seen.
As Mr Purkiss addressed the court, in the dock Ms Otto kept her eyes down and rocked back and forth.
The trial before Chief Justice Alan Blow continues.