Dr Dennis Roantree was Eastman’s GP for years, and was still treating him the year the territory’s police chief was shot twice in the head in a neighbour’s driveway.

Dr Roantree saw Eastman on January 6, 1989, four days before Mr Winchester was killed.

The doctor has been regularly questioned over information he gave to police that he may have heard Eastman say ‘‘I should shoot the bastard’’ as a ‘‘passing quip’’ as he left the consultation. The doctor thought this may have been in reference to Mr Winchester.

Dr Roantree, after weighing his patient’s privacy against his civic duty, contacted Australian Federal Police Commander Rick Ninness, who was also a patient of his, after hearing police appealing for information on the killing over the radio.

An interview was set up on January 13, 1989, and Dr Roantree told them of what he had heard.

But three days later, he deliberately left out any reference to the ‘‘I should shoot the bastard’’ comment from a police statement.

He also crossed it out in a set of handwritten notes he had prepared.

The doctor did so because he could not be sure that he had accurately heard Eastman make that statement, saying he thinks he did, but wasn’t ‘‘absolutely clear’’.

Dr Roantree again gave evidence on his recollection of the consultation with Eastman on Thursday, this time before the current inquiry into Eastman’s conviction.

Under questioning by counsel for the Australian Federal Police, Lionel Robberds, QC, Dr Roantree revealed an episode that occurred at the beginning of his consultation with Eastman.

The doctor had asked Eastman how another court case was going, prompting his patient to talk about a meeting he’d had with Mr Winchester.

Eastman said he should have pushed the assistant commissioner from his chair, and Dr Roantree told him he should not do that.

Dr Roantree said this produced an ‘‘unforgettable’’ fury in Eastman.

‘‘That fury was unbelievable, unbelievable,’’ he said.

‘‘The level of fury was such that I would never have seen it in any patient at any practice."

The doctor said that he had always been too inexperienced with the court process to tell anyone of Eastman’s anger in previous proceedings, saying he had always let himself be led by questioning from lawyers.

Dr Roantree said he had always let himself be side-tracked by discussion of whether Eastman had uttered the ‘‘shoot the bastard’’ phrase.

‘‘I think the point was missed completely,’’ he said.

The inquiry will now move on to a new phase of hearing evidence, outlined by counsel assisting Liesl Chapman, SC, on Thursday.

It will focus on questions surrounding the testing and comparison of gunshot residue found at the murder scene - on the driveway, Mr Winchester’s Ford, and in his hair - and in Eastman’s Mazda.

Ms Chapman foreshadowed the inquiry would investigate ‘‘significant’’ issues with the work of a key forensic witness responsible for testing the residue, Robert Collins Barnes.

The inquiry will look at incomplete and inadequate testing, inconsistent and significantly varied results, ‘‘serious issues’’ with the case file, a lack of review of Mr Barnes’ work, and concerns about the databases used to underpin his analysis of the gunshot residue.

There were also potential inconsistencies between some of his results and the evidence he gave at trial, the inquiry heard.

Ms Chapman said there were question marks over the reliability of his identification of some particles, which meant it could not identify a single ammunition type and could not exclude a range of other ammunitions.

Mr Barnes' home was raided in 1996 due to wider concerns about his work in general, the inquiry heard.

The inquiry will continue on Tuesday, when Northern Ireland-based forensic scientist Dr James Wallace is expected to give evidence.

Dr Wallace has recently tested vintage PMC .22 ammunition and has determined a shortened rifle rather than one fitted with a silencer was likely to have been used in the killing.

Mr Barnes gave evidence that Eastman used a firearm with a silencer attached, something also in conflict with other claims by a witness who heard two gunshots at the time of the killing.