A Swansea couple accused of a 2009 murder were "in it together", Director of Public Prosecutions Daryl Coates SC told a Supreme Court jury in a four-hour opening address on Friday.
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He said evidence presented would show that Cedric Harper Jordan, 71, and Noelene June Jordan, 68, had a strong motive and the opportunity when they travelled to Campbell Town together to murder Shane Geoffrey Barker on August 2.
The accused couple have pleaded not guilty.
He said there was overwhelming evidence that Mr Jordan pulled the trigger, but it didn't matter because the couple had a common purpose.
"Mr and Mrs Jordan agreed to kill Mr Barker and that is what they did," Mr Coates said.
"And both accused have been lying about it ever since."
Mr Coates outlined the circumstantial crown case which included ballistic and telecommunication evidence, witness statements and the alleged lies of the accused.
He said Mr Barker was shot four times - three in the back and once in the chest while on the ground in the driveway of his Campbell Town home and left for dead.
"Given that he was shot four times, it is the crown's case that the only inference is that it was a premeditated killing by someone who knew him and knew where he lived," Mr Coates said.
"It was in cold blood, not a loss of temper."
Mr Barker was found in the hallway of his home the next day and a pathologist's evidence would show he could have been capable of walking.
Mr Coates said there was a toxic relationship between Mr Barker and his estranged wife Rachel and her parents, which included an allegation that Mr Barker had raped Rachel and molested another family member.
No charges were ever laid and Mr Barker continued to receive access via the Family Court to his five-and-a-half year old child.
The bitterness was increased by the access battle over Mr Barker's daughter and rancour over a financial settlement.
Mr Coates said a spent .22 rifle cartridge found at Mr Barker's property was later found to match cartridges recovered from a Jordan family property in the Central Highlands.
He said the cartridges were fired from the same weapon.
The murder weapon has never been found.
He said a former partner of Rachel Jordan, Justin Titley, would give evidence that Mr Jordan showed him a weapon saying that it would be a good weapon to "get rid of someone with" because it was unregistered.
An unregistered .22 weapon had formerly been owned by Mrs Jordan's father Noel Jetson.
Mr Coates said the Jordans suffered so much stress after Mr Barker's death that they required medical and counselling help.
At Mr Barker's wake Mr Jordan said he couldn't sleep, he was crook in the guts and that he and Noelene had taken up smoking again because of what happened, he said.
There would be evidence that the couple changed their story after Telstra information showed they lied when they said they were in Swansea on the night of the alleged murder.
They then claimed they had driven to KFC at Kings Meadows, but differed over which route they had driven.
Mr Barker left his parent's home in Campbell Town at 6.30pm and drove for two minutes to his East Street home.
He parked in the garage and went inside to place a biscuit tin and some ironing on a kitchen bench before going back outside to lock up and shut the gate at which time the gunman shot him from a distance.
"The shots were not from close range," Mr Coates said.
The spent cartridge was found in an alleyway near the garage.
Mr Barker's body was not found until the next morning when work colleagues at the then Roberts store in Campbell Town checked his home because he was unusually late.
Mr Coates said an initial investigation did not result in charges.
The investigation was resumed by a Cold Case Unit in 2016 under the leadership of experienced officer Mark Lopes.
Charges were laid and the couple first appeared in the Hobart Magistrates Court in May 2020.
In November 2020, the couple were granted bail.
On Wednesday, April 26 defence counsel Patrick O'Halloran for Mr Jordan and Fran McCracken for Ms Jordan will reply to Mr Coates' opening address.
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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.
