Arabic version: هيئة المحلفين تتداول في محاكمة داريل يونغ بقضية جرائم قتل بوغي

According to ABC News, a Supreme Court jury in Townsville has retired to consider its verdict in the triple murder and attempted murder trial of Queensland grazier and coal miner Darryl Valroy Young. Young, 63, has pleaded not guilty to three murder charges and one attempted murder charge.

The jury began deliberations on Wednesday after hearing three weeks of evidence and two days of closing addresses. Two reserve jurors who had been with the 12-person panel throughout the trial were discharged. The charges relate to the deaths of Mervyn Schwarz, Maree Schwarz and her son Graham Tighe, who were found dead at the gate of Young’s Shannonvale Station at Bogie on August 4, 2022.

Ross Tighe, Graham Tighe’s brother, told the court he witnessed the accused shoot his family and was himself shot. He said doctors did not remove the projectile from his body. Justice Christopher Johnstone told jurors they must decide whether Ross Tighe was truthful, noting that Young’s defence lawyer, Anthony Kimmins, had not suggested in cross-examination that any of the witness’s evidence was a lie. The judge also recalled medical evidence that Ross Tighe could have died from blood loss or infection without intervention.

The defence suggested Ross Tighe could have been the murderer and could have shot himself, a proposition prosecutor David Nardone described as a “fantasy”. Justice Johnstone also directed jurors on Young’s alibi, saying that if they accepted it, Young should be found not guilty. If they rejected it, however, that would not by itself establish guilt; prosecutors must prove beyond reasonable doubt that Young was at the gate at the relevant time. Young has said he was not at the gate and did not shoot anyone.