Court told ‘fit of rage’ led to killing after victim’s alleged sexual advance

A man accused of beating his drinking partner to death in a “fit of rage” after he allegedly made sexual advances towards him is set for a nervous wait tomorrow as a Supreme Court jury begins its deliberations.

Joseph Thomas Roe is accused of murdering the 41-year-old man, who is not named for cultural reasons, during a drunken session at his Broome North residence two years ago.

The court, which has sat in Broome for the past week, was told the man had died on the kitchen floor of Roe’s unit after suffering “significant” head injuries in the early hours of September 27, 2014.

In her closing remarks today, State prosecutor Amanda Burrows said Roe had been in a fit of rage when he launched a “sustained and vicious attack” on the man using a metal pole, leaving him with a fractured skull and other injuries. The deceased was also found with anal injuries.

Ms Burrows said Roe had expressed his intention to kill on the night of the incident and the inflictions of the injuries suggested the act was one of “vengeance and degradation”.

The court was told Roe had been drinking around town since late afternoon the day before the incident. In the evening, he left a Broome pub at closing time and preceded to the local night club, where Roe was refused entry.

He allegedly met the victim in the early hours of Saturday morning and they went back to Roe’s unit about 3.30am, where they continued to drink.

Roe’s lawyer, Shane Brennan, said his client had not intended to kill the man but acted in self-defence after waking to find the man carrying out an imminent sexual assault.

Mr Brennan said Roe admitted to strangling the man and beating him with the pole when he believed he was already dead.

He told the court that in a police interview Roe said he “didn’t really mean to kill” the deceased and had just meant to “scare him”.

But Ms Burrows rejected claims of self-defence, saying Roe had been in an argumentative mood on the night of the incident. She said Roe had acted without any sense of fear on an unarmed smaller man.

In the hours after the death, Ms Burrows said Roe had made a number of conscious decisions which showed his intent, including wrapping the man’s body in plastic, cleaning his unit and changing his clothes. He also allegedly placed the metal pole back in its position behind the front door.

The court was told Roe had then visited a Broome pub just before 10am and later showed a relative the man’s body.

Ms Burrows said Roe had lied to police during interviews, saying the deceased had been in a fight with someone and he found the body on the floor.

However, in a second interview, Roe confessed to killing the deceased after the he allegedly made sexual advances towards him.

Ms Burrows quoted Roe as saying to police: “I killed him…I choked him and put him in a plastic bag”.

He also allegedly told police he “gets violent” and “has a violent streak” in him, adding the deceased was a “poof” who wanted to perform a sexual act and had stolen his alcohol and clothes, which “got him riled”.

Roe told police he did not know how the deceased ended up in his house.

Mr Brennan said the victim had been “grossly” affected by alcohol and cannabis and may have been a closet homosexual.

The court was told a possible motive for the attack had been an incident that had happened to Roe’s wife some years ago in Kununurra.