ONE of the men charged with the brutal axe murder of a Scarsdale teenager had allegedly been planning to bash the boy’s stepfather for weeks leading up to the murder, a court heard yesterday.
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A witness told Ballarat Magistrates Court that Darren Wilson, 33, of Ballarat, was a violent person who constantly talked about fighting and had been devising a plan to bash Peter Williams for some time.
Timothy O’Brien, 14, was murdered in the early hours of January 5 this year when he went to the aid of his stepfather, Mr Williams, who was being bashed.
“I’m not real keen on the way he (Wilson) conducts himself some times, he’s a very violent person,” the witness told the court.
“Darren’s mentality... he just likes confrontation.
“Darren had been talking about giving Peter a flogging at least two weeks before it actually happened.”
The court heard Wilson allegedly went searching for Mr Williams only days before the murder, but kicked in a door and left a threatening note when he couldn’t find him.
Giving evidence during a committal hearing of the three people accused of murdering Timothy, the witness said he had heard Wilson and a teenage girl devising a plan to lure Mr Williams to the property.
The court heard the teenage girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told Wilson that Mr Williams had been peering at her through windows.
The witness said the day before the murder he heard the teenage girl say to Wilson: “I’ll lure him out here”.
“Darren said ‘well you get him out here and I’ll bash him’,” the witness said.
Joel Henderson, 40, of Wendouree, and Lisa Trezise, 29, of Ballarat, also stand accused of the murder in which Timothy was allegedly struck to the head up to 20 times with an axe.
Giving evidence from a remote witness room yesterday, Peter Williams recalled the terrifying moment he ran from the house as Henderson allegedly stood with the axe raised in the air “yelling aggressively”.
Mr Williams said he ran to his parked car where he unsuccessfully tried to call police before he saw Timothy lying face down on the ground with Henderson allegedly kneeling on his back.
“I saw Timmy running towards the car,” Mr Williams said.
“He was yelling out.”
The committal hearing continues.
