SKIDMARKS on a road in Belmont South prove Guy Hamilton McCulloch must have reversed his 4WD towards accused murderer Justin Fuller in the moments before Mr McCulloch was stabbed to death, a Newcastle Supreme Court jury has been told.
Defence barrister Winston Terracini, SC, spent much of his closing address on Thursday focusing on the 6.4 metre skidmark in Beach Street that he said corroborated Mr Fuller's claims of how the stabbing occurred and bolstered his partial defence of both excessive self-defence and of extreme provocation.
Mr Fuller has pleaded not guilty to murder, but guilty to manslaughter over the death of Mr McCulloch, 50, who was stabbed five times in Beach Street after twice reversing his 4WD back into Mr Fuller's car, the culmination of an ugly and long-running family dispute that included multiple acts of arson and repeated death threats.
Mr Fuller gave evidence on Tuesday, telling the jury he had "lost it" during a chaotic confrontation with Mr McCulloch and his partner, Mr Fuller's half-sister Kristy Duley, and essentially forgot that he was holding two large machetes. Mr Fuller claimed Mr McCulloch had reversed at him, he had jumped out of the way but Mr McCulloch's Nissan had collected him and he had managed to cling to the side of the car.
He said he had intended to punch Mr McCulloch through the open car window and not stab him.
Crown prosecutor John Stanhope has labelled Mr Fuller's version of how the stabbing occurred "very, very implausible".
But on Thursday, during his closing address, Mr Terracini pointed to the evidence of a crime scene officer, who said Mr McCulloch's car was travelling approximately 30km/h when he suddenly slammed on the brakes, leaving a 6.4m skid mark. After the stabbing, the skidmark was in front of Mr McCulloch's vehicle, with Mr Terracini saying "the only rational explanation" was that Mr McCulloch had reversed. "If there is evidence indicating that it was reversed, maybe [Mr Fuller's] account is not all that implausible at all," he said.
Mr Terracini also sought to attack the credibility of Ms Duley, claiming she made up an allegation that Mr Fuller had repeatedly punched her in the head to provide a reason for McCulloch then twice reversing the 4WD into Mr Fuller's car.
"If he didn't punch her it puts this in a very different context," Mr Terracini said. "Then it is a totally unprovoked ramming, a very dangerous thing to do."
Mr Stanhope had earlier finished his closing address by telling the jury they should reject Mr Fuller's evidence and find that neither partial defence was made out.
