Cymru am byth
March 26th, 2007, 06:12 PM
Man's Head Used As 'Bowling Ball'
News Edition: 03/23/2007
http://www.bangedup.com/news/images/sp1.gif BRISBANE, AUS-- A teenager was decapitated and his head rolled down a hill like a "bowling ball" after he was stabbed 133 times, a Brisbane court has heard.
James Patrick Roughan, 27, and Christopher Clark Jones, 23, both of Sandgate north of Brisbane, today pleaded not guilty in the Queensland Supreme Court to murdering 17-year-old Morgan Jay Shepherd on March 29, 2005.
Both the accused have pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and interfering with a corpse.
Prosecutor Don McKenzie told the court that only days after he died, Shepherd's headless body was found by police buried in a shallow grave off a dirt road in Dayboro, north of Brisbane, following an anonymous tip-off.
The jury heard the victim, who was a resident of a Brisbane youth hostel, had been drinking with both the accused at Roughan's home before a fight broke out.
"It's unknown which of the two accused killed Jay Shepherd, but it is clear the other was assisting with a clear knowledge of what he was doing," Mr McKenzie told the court.
He said a post-mortem examination revealed Shepherd had been stabbed 133 times and his head had been cut off by either an axe, saw or knife.
"It can't be ruled out more than one knife was used to stab the body," Mr McKenzie said.
Police allegedly found a tomahawk, knife, handsaw and pruning saw stained with the victim's blood in Roughan's shed, as well as blood-stained clothing featuring Jones' DNA.
Mr McKenzie said a witness would testify Jones told friends about the alleged murder and the dumping of the body. "(Jones said) he had to find the head because James had used it like a bowling ball, rolling it down the hill," he said.
News Edition: 03/23/2007
http://www.bangedup.com/news/images/sp1.gif BRISBANE, AUS-- A teenager was decapitated and his head rolled down a hill like a "bowling ball" after he was stabbed 133 times, a Brisbane court has heard.
James Patrick Roughan, 27, and Christopher Clark Jones, 23, both of Sandgate north of Brisbane, today pleaded not guilty in the Queensland Supreme Court to murdering 17-year-old Morgan Jay Shepherd on March 29, 2005.
Both the accused have pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and interfering with a corpse.
Prosecutor Don McKenzie told the court that only days after he died, Shepherd's headless body was found by police buried in a shallow grave off a dirt road in Dayboro, north of Brisbane, following an anonymous tip-off.
The jury heard the victim, who was a resident of a Brisbane youth hostel, had been drinking with both the accused at Roughan's home before a fight broke out.
"It's unknown which of the two accused killed Jay Shepherd, but it is clear the other was assisting with a clear knowledge of what he was doing," Mr McKenzie told the court.
He said a post-mortem examination revealed Shepherd had been stabbed 133 times and his head had been cut off by either an axe, saw or knife.
"It can't be ruled out more than one knife was used to stab the body," Mr McKenzie said.
Police allegedly found a tomahawk, knife, handsaw and pruning saw stained with the victim's blood in Roughan's shed, as well as blood-stained clothing featuring Jones' DNA.
Mr McKenzie said a witness would testify Jones told friends about the alleged murder and the dumping of the body. "(Jones said) he had to find the head because James had used it like a bowling ball, rolling it down the hill," he said.