Arabic version: بدء محاكمة قتل بالساطور في المحكمة العليا بولاية فيكتوريا

According to ABC News, Christopher Reyes Gonzaga, 45, has gone on trial in the Victorian Supreme Court accused of murdering his friend Gregory Tan, 45, at an empty Deer Park home in western Melbourne in 2024. Mr Gonzaga has pleaded not guilty to murder.

The jury heard security camera audio of yells and thumping noises in the neighbourhood during the early hours of April 15, 2024. Prosecutors alleged Mr Tan was struck at least 39 times with a machete and suffered extensive injuries to his jugular, carotid artery and skull. His right hand was partially severed, which the prosecution said was a defensive wound.

In her opening address, prosecutor Penelope Thorp told jurors that Mr Tan tried to defend himself while Mr Gonzaga was allegedly striking him in the head with the machete. The Crown also alleged a gash on Mr Gonzaga’s forehead when he was arrested was self-inflicted. Before the arrest, prosecutors said CCTV showed Mr Gonzaga crouching behind a car and without injuries to his face.

Mr Gonzaga had previously told police that Mr Tan threatened him with a screwdriver and that he acted in self-defence. The court heard the two men had been friends for some time and that witnesses had seen them use drugs together on multiple occasions.

Prosecutors alleged Mr Gonzaga lit two fires at the home after Mr Tan’s death, threw the machete into a drain, then called Triple Zero to report the fire. His barrister, John Lavery, is due to make an opening address to the jury on Tuesday morning.