A Supreme Court jury took about 4.5 hours to find the cold-blooded killer of Jake Anderson-Brettner guilty of murder today.
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Jack-Harrison Vincent Sadler, 29, of Dion Crescent, Riverside, showed no emotion as the jury forewoman announced the verdict.
The Riverside man shot Mr Anderson-Brettner three times with a Smith and Wesson pistol before beheading and dismembering his body with an axe and knife in a manner consistent with the lyrics of the grotesque rap song Dead Body Disposal.
During the 11-day trial, the jury heard that the cocaine-sniffing Sadler had become increasingly angry with Mr Anderson-Brettner, 24, over a drug debt.
He methodically planned the murder lining a room in his house with plastic to prevent blood from getting on the walls in preparation for a pre-arranged meeting with Mr Anderson-Brettner on August 15, 2018.
The day before the meeting he met former lawyer Adrian Hall to discuss where to get rid of a body and missing person protocols.
His fully-loaded pistol was close at hand.
After the shooting, he callously hacked Mr Anderson-Brettner's body into six pieces and disposed of him as garbage at The Sideling and in wheelie bins at Gravelly Beach and in suburbs of Launceston.
The jury appeared to reject his evidence that three Victorian men appeared out of thin air at his home and shot Mr Anderson-Brettner before telling him to clean up.
After he and partner Gemma Elizabeth Clark disposed of body parts he lied to Mr Anderson-Brettner's fiance Katlyn Roney telling her that he had been out looking for Jake because he had not turned up.
The next day the couple went shopping for new curtains at Spotlight before going to the gym.
Police found $87,480 in Sadler's hidden Black Jeep Cherokee.
The jury heard that Mr Anderson-Brettner called at a friend's house shortly before his death and picked up a bag.
Director of Public Prosecutions Daryl Coates SC and prosecutor Emily Judd built a strong circumstantial case backed by forensic and ballistic evidence and the evidence of Clark.
She received a discount on her jail sentence after pleading guilty to being an accessory after the fact of murder and failing to report a killing.
SADLER RELATED NEWS
- DAY 1 | The Crown presents its case against Jack Sadler
- DAY 2 | Jack Sadler 'lied' about seeing alleged victim
- DAY 3 | Accused murderer asked witness to cut deceased's toes off
- DAY 4 | Police found gun at accused murderer's home '
- DAY 5 | 'I heard someone saying 'please man don't, please man stop'
- DAY 6 | Accused was angry, told girlfriend not to tell police 'about the Jeep'
- DAY 7 | Man died quickly from lethal shots
- DAY 8 | Accused murderer 'happy to spend life in jail so long family is safe'
- DAY 9 | Focus on accused murderer's DNA as jury set to retire
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Nick Clark
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for the Examiner for the past 18 months. My journalism career has clicked over 30 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for the Examiner for the past 18 months. My journalism career has clicked over 30 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
