An axe-murderer demanded that his family intimidate witnesses, in an attempt to get them to change their evidence years before his trial, a court has heard.
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Darren Wilson, 39, was last year sentenced to a 30½-year jail term for murdering an autistic teenager in 2013. Wilson's cousin, Peter Williams, was lured to a house in Scarsdale,to be attacked.
When Mr Williams' stepson, 14-year-old Timothy O'Brien, came to his aid, Wilson hit him in the head with an axe a number of times, killing him.
After pleading guilty to perverting the course of justice, Wilson could face more time in jail, the County Court heard on Thursday. Prosecutor Ray Gibson said that while Wilson was on remand for the murder in 2013, he repeatedly asked his mother, Shirley Wilson, and his brother, Eddie Wilson, to intimidate prosecution witnesses to change their statements against him at his trial. At one point he tried to enlist the help of the Bandidos motorcycle club.
"If you want me out for Christmas get then lien [sic] dog to tell the truth," Wilson said in one letter to his mother. “You should be getting this down this is you [sic] job to make this happen mum ... get it done don't be scared."
Wilson, indicated he was aware that police were recording and monitoring his conversations from remand, the court heard.
The offending was serious and "strikes at the heart of the administration of justice", Mr Gibson said.
A witness showed police letters they believed Wilson had sent them, which blamed the murder on his co-accused Lisa Trezise, who later pleaded guilty to assisting an offender in relation to murder and gave evidence implicating Wilson and another co-accused, Joel Henderson, last year sentenced to 24 years in jail over the boy's murder.
Both of Wilson's relatives discussed with him a plan to attack Trezise, who later received a letter that said "you will be killed", in December 2013.
Wilson told his family on a phone call that some of the witnesses needed a "flogging" and that "...if she doesn't tell the truth she f---ing won't be around for the trial and I don't give a f--k whose listening."
His mother approached the victim's family at a shopping centre, telling the dead boy's sister to "keep your mouth shut" and saying to his stepfather: "You should tell the truth, you were there sitting in your car watching it," in November 2013.
Wilson's brother Eddie told him on the phone that month: "They [got] the fear of God put through them and they'll do what they're told to do. I've done my best today and they'll all be getting changed them statements otherwise they'll go back tomorrow and the next day and the next day and the next day."
Wilson also tried to write to a member of the Bandidos motorcycle club asking for his help but Corrections intercepted the letter before it was mailed out.
Judge Mark Taft said Wilson's crime was "extremely serious" and that he had engaged in a "concerted, repetitive and energetic campaign to interfere with witnesses."
Defence counsel Richard Backwell said that if Wilson's current non-parole period of 26 years was extended, it would be a "crushing sentence" given his age and intellectual deficits.
Both Shirley and Eddie Wilson were initially charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.Shirley Wilson's charge was later dropped, and Eddie Wilson has gone missing on bail, having failed to appear for a committal hearing at the Magistrates' Court.
Judge Taft remanded Wilson and will sentence him on a date to be fixed.
