A 24-year-old Riverside man suffered two lethal shots from a Smith and Wesson 9mm self-loading pistol before being beheaded and dismembered with an axe and a knife, a Supreme Court jury in Launceston heard.
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Former State Forensic pathologist Christopher Lawrence said Jake Anderson-Brettner would have died "pretty quickly" after a first shot through the back put a hole in the right ventricle of his heart causing lethal bleeding.
Dr Lawrence said a second shot to the lower right chest would not have caused immediate death but a third shot which entered Mr Anderson-Brettner's right chest would also have been lethal.
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Jack Harrison Vincent Sadler, 29, of Riverside, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Anderson-Brettner at Mr Sadler's home on August 15, 2018.
The jury also heard that forensic evidence revealed Mr Sadler's DNA on the pistol handgrip, trigger guard and other areas of the gun.
A ballistics expert gave evidence that bullets extracted from Mr Anderson-Brettner's body had markings that matched test fired cartridges with the seized weapon.
Dr Lawrence said the trajectory of second and third shots suggested the man was probably lying on the floor when struck.
He said he concluded that a knife was used to behead Mr Anderson-Brettner and cut his arms off.
An axe or hatchet was used on his legs.
Mr Anderson Brettner's head, legs and arms have never been found.
During the trial the jury has heard that Mr Anderson-Brettner arrived at Mr Sadler's house about 7.30pm.
Mr Sadler's partner Gemma Clark said she heard, from the next room, a man pleading for his life before she heard noises like a cupboard door slamming.
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The jury heard last week that Mr Sadler moved Mr Anderson Brettner's black Nissan Navara to Balmoral Avenue before returning to the house.
Dr Lawrence said Mr Anderson-Brettner's head was removed in an unusual way.
"Normally it would be between the 3-4 cervical vertebra but this was unusual because part of the jaw was attached - it was a bit of a mess," he said.
He said it would have taken at least half an hour to dismember the body.
"A really experienced hunter would probably do it quite quickly but my impression was that this took quite a bit longer because they had to cut through bone," he said.
Clark, who is serving a five a half year sentence for failing to report a killing and being an accessory after the fact, gave evidence that she held garbage bags open while Mr Sadler put body parts inside.
They then drove Mr Sadler's Jeep Cherokee with Mr Anderson-Brettner's body parts in garbage bags and put them in wheelie bins around Launceston and at Gravelly Beach.
Clark drove Mr Sadler to the Sideling where he threw Mr Anderson-Brettner's torso down a bank.
Defence counsel Greg Richardson says there is no dispute that Mr Sadler was involved in the disposal of the body but the issue was who killed Mr Anderson-Brettner.
Ballistics expert Constable Simon Taylor said two bullets were extracted from the body.
He said the scoring of the bullets matched test firing done with the Smith and Wesson firearm which was found hidden in bushes outside Mr Sadler's back door in a cryovac bag.
"Both had five land and grooves with a right hand twist which matched the striations and scratches caused by the barrel of the exhibit weapon," Constable Taylor said.
Markings on tested cartridges matched those on cartridges found in a ziplock bag in a drain at Mr Sadler's house.
"There was sufficient individual microscopic details to conclude that three fired cartridge cases came from the exhibit pistol," he said.
Forensic biologist Carl Grosser said that there was a strong suggestion that Mr Sadler's DNA was present in a mixed contribution on the pistol.
"We can exclude Gemma Clark and Mr Anderson-Brettner as the second contributor," Dr Grosser said.
He said that Mr Sadler was the most likely contributor from two profiles on the pistol's magazine.
Dr Grosser said that the likelihood of Mr Sadler's DNA being on the silver silencer was 2.9 billion compared with it being somebody else. Clark and Mr Anderson-Brettner were excluded as contributors.
He said a PVC pipe which contained the silencer had a very strong suggestion of Mr Sadler's DNA.
The PVC pipe was found by police hidden at number 114 Dion Crescent, Riverside.
The trial was adjourned until Monday, May 17 when it is expected that Mr Sadler will make an election on whether he will give or adduce evidence.