The lawyer for a man who has admitted helping a murderer clean up and cover up his crime has argued the two years her client has served in custody since his arrest is "more than enough".
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The guilty plea of Phillip Dunn, 61, in relation to the death of Wangaratta man Nathan Day came with a warning from the prosecution - they did not believe everything Dunn had said at the time of the murder, or since.
His barrister Diana Price has now called for Dunn to be released immediately.
Prosecutor John Dickie told the Supreme Court on Friday that Mr Day was killed in the bedroom of McNamara's Ryan Avenue home, where "he had his throat cut and his carotid artery severed by a sharp implement".
"The precise circumstances leading up to the infliction of the wound, and who inflicted the wound, have not been ascertained," he said.
Dunn has claimed McNamara committed the murder, while McNamara has pleaded guilty to murder on the basis that he helped Dunn, who he said was the main offender.
Justice Michael Croucher will sentence each offender separately based on their admissions.
All three men had a history of spending time together, arguing and making threats against each other, and had all been drinking heavily on the day.
When Dunn was arrested in September 2018 - initially for being drunk in Benalla - he "blurted out" that McNamara committed the murder, which Ms Price said was a case of him needing to "get it all off his chest".
He had made various claims to both officers and people he knew from Wangaratta that "Darcy went too far", that Mr Day and McNamara were "boyfriends", and also that Mr Day was alive and out of town in the weeks after he knew the man had died and been buried in McNamara's backyard.
The court heard Dunn also disposed of his shoes with blood on them at a friend's house, gave McNamara cleaning products for the bedroom, gave him shovels to potentially help bury Mr Day's body and got rid of a knife that may have connected to the murder.
MORE NEWS FROM COURT:
Mr Dickie said Dunn had given "an unreliable version of events" and acted in a way that got in the way of arresting a murderer.
"The Crown don't accept everything that Mr Dunn said to police ... nor does the Crown suggest that your honour should accept everything that he said," he said.
"Neither of the two men give clear explanations as to what happened or who did what."
Ms Price told the court on Friday that "Mr McNamara alone had murdered Mr Day" and Dunn was only present at the time by watching from behind a screen door as McNamara committed the act.
"There is remorse here and Mr Dunn does very much regret that Mr Day has died," she said.
She said his actions were not at the high end of moral culpability for the offence of assisting an offender, which carried a maximum sentence of five years in jail.
Dunn has already served more than two years in custody.
"The pre-sentence detention that he has already served would exceed what would be required in terms of a period of incarceration," Ms Price said.
"He ought to be able to be released now ... or eligible for parole now."
Mr Dickie did not argue against her on this point, saying a jail sentence that allowed Dunn to be released immediately on parole was within range.
Justice Croucher said it was preferable for offenders to either be on parole or community correction orders to have support when released back into the community.
The court heard that Dunn, who was diagnosed with bipolar since his 30s, has a criminal history that included "short stints" in jail for assaults.
He planned to return to Wangaratta after he is released, but Ms Price said it was "not necessarily going to be a welcome return from some people in the area".
"His plans are to keep to himself, watch his tongue, to be mindful of his behaviour, to attend alcoholic anonymous meetings," Ms Price said.
Justice Croucher will hand down his sentence on October 26.
