A home intruder was bound, gagged, beaten and raped in the lead-up to his death at a unit in Melbourne's outer-west, a jury has been told.
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Klay Edward Holland is standing trial in the Supreme Court of Victoria charged with the manslaughter and rape of 39-year-old Shane Cox on March 16, 2021.
Mr Cox broke into a unit on Fay Street at Melton in the early hours of the morning armed with a knife and wearing a face mask when he was met by Holland and others, prosecutors say.
He asked for money and drugs, and was allegedly linked to people who'd earlier come into the house to "stand over" a resident there.
Mr Cox was soon overpowered, with Holland hitting him with a baseball bat and sending him to the ground in what would be the first strike of series over the proceeding hours, prosecutor Kristie Churchill alleged.
Holland is accused of striking Mr Cox in the head with the bat, tying him up, punching him in the head, snapping his arm, and threatening witnesses that if they told anyone about the incident, "they'd be next", Ms Churchill said.
Holland allegedly went on to rape Mr Cox with a plastic gun, and "brag" about it to others, she alleged.
He allegedly fled the scene in his mother's vehicle after some cleaning up, and while there was "some discussion" about taking Mr Cox to hospital, nobody did, the prosecutor said.
"He remains on the floor bound, gagged and severely injured," Ms Churchill told the jury.
Police the next day found Mr Cox dead under a pile of blankets. His hands had been tied with rope, his ankles bound with fabric, a towel and pillow case put around his neck, his pants pulled down, and nylon tights wrapped around his face.
A pathologist concluded Mr Cox died from blunt force head trauma in conjunction with high levels of methylamphetamine, in the context of being bound and gagged, Ms Churchill said.
Mr Cox's mouth was taped shut, she said.
The defence in the trial, which began on Wednesday, don't contest that Mr Cox forced his way into the unit, or that Holland hit him - but they do contest the extent and number of hits, barrister Alexander Patton said.
He suggested the case was full of "half-truths", and urged the jury to consider of the witnesses whether they could "believe a word that most of them say".
"You might well be thinking at the end of the trial it's more of a 'whodunnit' ... but playing detective is not your role," Mr Patton said.
The trial continues on Thursday.
Australian Associated Press
