A Riverside man accused of murder refused to name the three Victorian drug dealers that he says killed Jake Anderson-Brettner over a debt.
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Jack Harrison Vincent Sadler, 29, said the men came from Victoria to a meeting at his Dion Crescent house because Mr Anderson-Brettner, 24, 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.
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 was 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 house in Riverside to cool things down.
He said the man had pointed Mr Sadler's pistol at both men before shooting Mr Anderson-Brettner three times.
The room was lined with plastic because he was going to have a cook up 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 asked "what the f--- am I supposed to do?" he said.
"Do what we do, cut the body up and get rid of it," Mr Sadler said they replied.
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 around Launceston.
Asked by Mr Richardson, Mr Sadler denied that he had shot Mr Anderson-Brettner or entered into any joint arrangement to cause his death or to aid or abet his death.
"I thought it was a meeting to sort out the debt," he said.
"There's no way I thought that was going to happen, that was just stupid, you can't get money out of someone if they are dead," Mr Sadler said.
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, I know what they are capable of," 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.
I am happy to spend the rest of my life in jail as long as my family are safe.
- Jack Sadler
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 the Victorians could pick it up.
"So these three killers shot Jake Anderson-Brettner then fled the scene and then arranged to come back to the scene of the crime to collect money," Mr Coates asked.
Mr Sadler said he had organised the pick-up with the men on an encrypted phone.
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 [McDonald's] quarter 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.
During cross examination, Mr Sadler said he thought owning a pistol was "cool".
"I never thought I would actually use it," he said.
Mr Coates cross examined Mr Sadler about moving a large amount of drug paraphernalia out of the house after the killing.
"You took the time to move a 75kg pill press out of the house to Legana but only managed to hide the gun out the back door?" he asked.
"I'm a drug manufacturer, not a hitman," he said.
Mr Coates asked him about the song Dead Body Disposal that was on his Spotify playlist.
"Why did you cut him up?" Mr Coates asked.
"I was terrified," he said.
"So terrified that you cut your friend up into six pieces and disposed of him as garbage?" Mr Coates asked.
"Not as garbage, but I did dispose of him," Mr Sadler replied.
"Were you terrified the next day?" he asked.
"Of course, if you don't pay the debt they go after your family," Mr Sadler said.
"Not so terrified that you couldn't go shopping for new curtains at Spotlight?" he asked.
"No," he said.
"It didn't prevent you going to the gym to workout," he asked.
"People cope with stress in different ways," Mr Sadler said.
"Do you agree you the song said to put in pepper so it wouldn't smell?" he asked.
"That's what the lyrics say," he replied.
"I suggest you were following the song when you decided to cut Mr Anderson-Brettner up and dispose of him?" he asked.
"No," he said.
Summings up begin at 10am today.