The trial of a 44-year-old man accused of murdering of his best friend with a metre-long samurai sword after an afternoon of fishing and drinking is underway in Western Australia.
Damian Kyle Beckerleg admitted to killing James Shane Reimers, 43, in May 2021, but pleaded not guilty to murder in the Supreme Court in Bunbury.
In his opening address, prosecutor Brett Tooker told the jury he would reject any claim Mr Beckerleg acted in self-defence.
Mr Tooker told the court the two men had been best friends since the age of five, and on the day of the alleged murder had gone drinking and fishing together on the Collie River.
The court heard the two got into an argument that led to Mr Reimers punching and beating up Mr Beckerleg, who then drove the short distance home to Eaton, north of Bunbury.
The court was told Mr Reimers followed him on foot, and burst into Mr Becklerleg’s house and started to assault him.
Mr Tooker said the accused grabbed an 80-centimetre arrow and stabbed Mr Reimers through the chest.
The court heard the victim was then chased down the street and stabbed multiple times with a samurai sword by the accused.
'He's killed me'
The court was played a harrowing triple-000 call made minutes before Mr Reimers was stabbed.
His mother, who had come to pick Mr Reimers up, found her son lying on the front yard outside Mr Beckerleg’s home, and spoke to the operator on the emergency line.
In the phone call, played to the jury, Mr Reimers could be heard saying, "He’s killed me, he’s stabbed me with an arrow".
Mr Reimers mother, Val Bartholomew, could he heard yelling "No!" and telling the operator of the call that her son had been hit with a sword.
Mr Tooker said the "horrific" injuries inflicted by Mr Beckerleg, who worked at a local abattoir, went beyond any reasonable grounds of self-protection.
'Extraordinary and tragic'
Defence lawyer Simon Freitag said his client was guilty of manslaughter, not murder.
"He killed his close friend … it was extraordinary and tragic," he said.
Mr Freitag said his client acted in excessive self-defence, after Mr Reimers had attacked him twice and threatened to kill him and rape his partner.
Mr Beckerleg is expected to give evidence at some point during the trial presided over by Justice Joseph McGrath, which is set down to run for two weeks.
