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MURDER TRIAL:
A team of lawyers led by Wagga barrister John Weir (left) will represent Englishman Alexander Christian York, who is on trial in the NSW Supreme Court for the murder of Scottish man Rudi Boa.Photo: Kerrie Stewart
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English national pleads not guilty to stabbing death English national Alexander Christian York yesterday pleaded not guilty to the stabbing murder of Scottish backpacker Rudi Boa in the NSW Supreme Court in Wagga and will claim he inflicted the fatal blow in self-defence.
Crown prosecutor Peter Barnett said in his opening address he would produce police recordings made just after Mr Boa’s death at the Blowering Holiday Park in Tumut on January 27, 2006 in which York is heard to say, “I did it. He came at me. It was self defence.”
Justice Michael Adams told the jury of seven men and five women the case would likely centre on whether York had acted reasonably in self-defence and told them they could find him guilty of murder or the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Mr Barnett told the court Mr Boa, 27, and his girlfriend Gillian Brown were in Tumut picking fruit as part of a year-long round-the-world trip. A dozen members of the victim’s family have come to Wagga for the trial and heard the prosecution would argue the following version of events:
On the day of Mr Boa’s death, the trio and a local man had been drinking at the Star Hotel when they got into a disagreement about creationism and evolution.
The Scots, both biomedical scientists, took the side of evolution and York argued for the biblical version of events.
York left the hotel and about 10.25pm caught a taxi back to the holiday park
during which an in-car surveillance system recorded him disparaging Mr Boa and Ms Brown and called them “typically Scottish.”
The Scots headed back to the caravan park with a pizza about 11pm and were recorded as saying their night had been ruined by a “bloke who had gone mental” and described him using several derogatory terms.
As they were walking back to their campsite York yelled out to them enquiring about the whereabouts of a book he had loaned Mr Boa and the pair approached him.
Ms Brown then asked York why he was behaving in such a manner and then he knocked the pizza out of her hand.
The court heard she then slapped York in the face and he grabbed her by the throat and pushed her to the ground.
Mr Barnett said Ms Brown would give evidence she saw something in York’s hand and said he had a knife and would stab Mr Boa.
She then saw Mr Boa stumble back a couple of steps before he collapsed in her arms.
Police allege they later found the weapon which had inflicted the fatal blow, a black-handled kitchen knife with a 15cm blade, near York’s campsite.
A registered nurse staying at the campsite could find no signs of life on Mr Boa, Mr Barnett said.
A post-mortem examination found a 16cm deep wound in Mr Boa’s left chest that had injured his left lung and pulmonary artery.
The accused was 31 years old at the time of the incident.
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