A Prospect man received a fatal shotgun wound to his chest after he and two friends went to Perth to confront the man who ended up shooting him, the Supreme Court in Launceston heard yesterday.
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Richard Andrew Duggan, 34, of Perth, has pleaded not guilty to murdering 24-year-old Nathan John Hortle on June 20, saying he shot Mr Hortle in self- defence.
Crown Prosecutor Daryl Coates said Mr Duggan had gone to the home of his former wife, Naomi McKeown, the day before, and that there had been tension between he and Ms McKeown's current partner, Scott Richmond.
When Mr Duggan left the house, he said ``see you later pecker-head,'' to Mr Richmond.
Mr Coates said that later that night Mr Richmond called two friends, including Mr Hortle, to his house, with the intention of then going to Perth to confront Mr Duggan at his Seccombe St home.
Mr Coates said that after the trio had left, Ms McKeown telephoned Mr Duggan to warn him the three men were on the way.
Mr Coates said Mr Duggan was at his house with Ms McKeown's son, Adrian, 17, and the pair armed themselves with two shotguns and two high- powered rifles and waited in a nearby paddock.
When Mr Hortle and his friends arrived, Mr Hortle started taking clothes from the washing line before Mr McKeown fired a warning shot and told him to leave.
Mr Coates said that Mr Hortle, who was later found to have a blood- alcohol level of 0.2, responded by walking towards Mr McKeown, punching him once to the head and telling him to put the shotgun down.
Mr Coates said Mr Duggan started walking away along Seccombe St, but that Mr Hortle had followed him and that the pair were shouting at each other.
Mr Coates said Mr Duggan fired at least three warning shots as he walked. When Mr Hortle got to within 3m, Mr Duggan aimed and shot him in the chest, severing Mr Hortle's aorta artery and causing massive internal bleeding. Mr Hortle died at the scene soon after.
Mr Duggan then went to a nearby house where he made several calls before calling police and giving himself up.
Defence lawyer Tim Ellis said that Mr Duggan was acting in self-defence, and he told the jury that the crucial issue in the case was Mr Duggan's frame of mind at the time.
Mr Ellis said that Mr Duggan was being pursued in the dark by an aggressive man who just minutes earlier had shown his willingness to attack.
Mr Ellis said Mr Duggan would have been entitled to shoot Mr Hortle the moment he punched Mr McKeown.
Mr Coates said Mr Hortle was behaving foolishly, but that Mr Duggan's reaction was grossly excessive.
The court heard that Mr Hortle had been to a party earlier that night, and one of the other party- goers, Cameron Kaye, told the court Mr Hortle had left about midnight.
Mr Kaye said he later came across Mr Hortle at Mr Richmond's house, where Mr Hortle told him he was going to Perth ``to sort out some business''.
Mr Kaye said that he and his friends offered to go as back-up, but that Mr Richmond refused. Mr Kaye said he went to Perth anyway, unbeknown to the others, to back them up in the event of a fight.
Mr Hortle was the son of Tasmania Police Insp. Steve Hortle, who is in charge of George Town police. Insp. Hortle sat in the public gallery with family and friends throughout yesterday's proceedings.
The jury members were taken on a tour of the scene at Perth yesterday afternoon, and the trial will continue before Chief Justice William Cox at 10am today.
