A Riverside man accused of murder refused to name the three drug dealers from Victoria that he told a Supreme Court jury today had killed Jake Anderson-Brettner over a drug debt.
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Jack Harrison Vincent Sadler, 29, said three men had come from Victoria because Mr Anderson-Brettner owed them a six-figure sum for drugs worth between $100,000 and $200,000.
Being led in his evidence by defence counsel Greg Richardson, Mr Sadler said the men arrived just before a meeting about 7.30pm on August 15, 2018.
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Mr Sadler told the jury that Mr Anderson-Brettner was selling cocaine supplied by the men and that he (Mr Sadler) was manufacturing ecstasy and sending it back to Victoria.
He said the meeting became heated when Mr Anderson-Brettner took a phone call about being approved for a home loan.
The men were angry that Mr Anderson-Brettner could afford to buy a house but were not able to pay them back.
Mr Sadler said one of the Victorian men shot Mr Anderson-Brettner after he (Sadler) had taken him (Anderson-Brettner) to a room known as the shoe room in his Dion Crescent house in Riverside to cool things down.
He said the room was lined with plastic because he was going to have a cook of ecstasy tablets that night.
Mr Sadler said the Victorian men left straight after the shooting and told him it was his job to clean up and that Mr Anderson-Brettner's drug debt was now his to pay.
He said he and partner Gemma Clark cut up the body with an axe and knife and disposed of it at The Sideling and in wheelie bins round Launceston.
Mr Sadler denied that he had shot Mr Anderson-Brettner or entered into any arrangement to cause his death or to aid or abet his death.
He admitted he thought owning a pistol was "cool".
Director of Public Prosecutions Daryl Coates SC cross examined Mr Sadler about the men.
"What are their names," he asked.
"You can't be serious," Mr Sadler responded.
"What are their names," Mr Coates asked again.
"My family are still out there," Mr Sadler said.
"You won't name them because you know that if you do they can be checked out, their whereabouts will be checked, isn't that the case," Mr Coates asked.
"Obviously if you name them their whereabouts can be checked."
"Correct," Mr Sadler said.
"That's why you can't name them because nobody came," Mr Coates asked.
"That's a lie, I will not name them," Mr Sadler responded.
Mr Sadler said that Mr Anderson-Brettner brought $10,000 to the meeting.
The jury heard that $87,480 was found in the back of Mr Sadler's Jeep Cherokee, which was hidden in Andrea Place early on August 16.
Mr Sadler said he had collected the money from around the house and put it in his Jeep and placed the keys in a light fixture near the front door of his house.
"So these three killers shot Jake Anderson-Brettner,"
"Yes," Mr Sadler replied.
"Then fled the scene and then arranged to come back to the scene of the crime," Mr Coates asked.
Mr Richardson objected saying to Justice Robert Pearce that if he [Mr Richardson ]had asked questions in the same way Justice Pearce would have stopped him.
"I would make exactly the same ruling for you as I would for Mr Coates," Justice Pearce said.
Mr Coates asked if Mr Anderson-Brettner was nervous about the meeting.
"He was nervous but not really worried," Mr Sadler replied.
"So unconcerned that he bought a half pounder," Mr Coates said.
"I asked him to bring dinner," Mr Sadler said.
Mr Coates asked about where Mr Sadler's pistol was.
"It was sitting on the kitchen table," Mr Sadler said.
"You thought it was a good idea to have a loaded pistol when three men were coming to talk about a drug debt," Mr Coates asked.
"I trusted them. it was never hidden," he said.
"You knew they were angry with Mr Anderson-Brettner?" Mr Coates said.
"Frustrated," Mr Sadler replied.
"So frustrated they flew down from Melbourne," he asked.
"I didn't think what happened would happen," Mr Sadler replied.
The trial continues this afternoon.