Bloodstains found at an apartment where an elderly Canberra man was found bashed to death indicated he suffered at least two blows caused by a solid, heavy instrument, a court has heard.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Danny Klobucar, 27, is on trial for the alleged murder of Miodrag Gajic, 71, at his Phillip unit in January 2014.
Mr Gajic suffered blunt force trauma at the front door of the Mansfield Place home on New Year's Day.
The Crown has argued Mr Gajic was killed before being dragged back into the hallway.
It is alleged that Mr Klobucar went to buy cannabis from Mr Gajic several days earlier on December 30, and then came back on New Year's Day to kill him after he allegedly began to believe the elderly man was a paedophile.
Mr Klobucar has denied he killed Mr Gajic and claimed the man was already dead when he arrived.
He is also relying on a defence of mental impairment, in the event that the jury finds him guilty of murder.
The jury continued to hear graphic details of the Mansfield Place crime scene in the ACT Supreme Court on Monday.
NSW bloodstain pattern expert Michael Raymond said stains found on a Puma shoe found in the accused's car were consistent with wet blood being projected a short distance from its source, but he could not comment on exactly how the blood got there.
He said the blood suggested the shoe had not come into "robust contact" with a bloody surface, which would have caused more significant stains.
Dr Raymond told the court he believed there had been at least two blunt force trauma impacts to Mr Gajic's head, but he could not say what kind of instrument caused the injuries.
He could see no evidence of "cast-off" blood splatters which would indicate a long instrument – such as a baseball bat or cricket bat – had been used in an over-the-shoulder swing to inflict the injuries.
Dr Raymond believed any object with a solid surface and some weight to it could have caused injuries consistent with the blood patterns he observed.
Bloodstains found in the hallway of Mr Gajic's home could have been shoeprints,or they could have been made by his hands or head when his body was dragged into the position it was found, he told the court.
Under cross-examination, Dr Raymond said it was possible someone could have walked into the pool of blood after Mr Gajic was killed and that would have caused the blood stains on the shoe.
He said, under questioning from the defence, that he had not observed any bloody shoe marks that were consistent with the body being moved:
"Nothing that's definitive, no," he said.
Dr Raymond said he could not see any evidence from the blood on the shoe that it was used for stomping on Mr Gajic.
The trial continues before Justice Hilary Penfold.
