Danny Clarke, 41, Dimitri D’Elio, 27, and Kylie Stott, 40, all of Shepparton, are each charged with murder, kidnapping and arson over the death of Benalla’s Charlie Gander, whose body was found in a burnt car at Bunbartha on December 24, 2022.
All three have pleaded not guilty to the charges in a trial being held at the Melbourne Supreme Court.
The prosecution alleges the trio kidnapped 19-year-old Mr Gander, killed him, and then put his body in Mr Gander’s borrowed Ford Territory they set fire to on remote Loch Garry Rd at Bunbartha.
In their opening addresses on day three of the trial, the separate defence counsels for all three accused identified some of the significant issues in the case for their clients.
Stott’s defence counsel Daniel Sala refuted a prosecution suggestion that Mr Gander’s death was a “case of retribution” where the accused were upset that Mr Gander was going to “dob” on another man, Tyson May, who was a friend of Ms Stott’s.
“Was retribution what she intended? What I’ll argue is that was not her intention,” Mr Sala said.
“Ms Stott had a very good reason to see the deceased live.”
Mr D’Elio’s defence counsel Paul Kounnas also told the jury it was “not a case about retribution” or one of “three people acting in unison” as the prosecution alleged.
“It is about a novice, infatuated by his co-accused Ms Stott,” Mr Kounnas said.
Mr D’Elio’s defence counsel argued his client did not murder Mr Gander.
“He did nothing to advance the killing, and there was no agreement (between the accused to kill Mr Gander),” Mr Kounnas said.
Mr Kounnas said Mr D’Elio “was there on that fateful day in Bunbartha” but “being there doesn’t make him guilty by association”.
“He was swept up in circumstances beyond his control, but he had no part in an agreement,” Mr Kounnas said.
He said one of the big issues for Mr D’Elio was how well he knew each of the other “players” in the incident — Ms Stott, Mr Clarke, Mr May and Mr Gander — including whether he even knew Mr Gander at all.
Mr Kounnas also pointed out Mr D’Elio was a lot younger than the other two accused.
“Mr D’Elio will say he was a naïve man who didn’t understand what was happening that night,” Mr Kounnas said.
In his opening address, Mr Clarke’s defence counsel Chris Terry told the jury his client disputed that he killed Mr Gander, or that he formed an agreement to kidnap and kill Mr Gander.
He also said he did not burn the Ford Territory Mr Gander’s body was found in.
Mr Terry said Mr Clarke, however, agreed he was in the company of Ms Stott and Mr D’Elio for some time on the evening of December 23, 2024, but disputed he was with them “for the entirety of the evening”.
Mr Terry agreed Mr Clarke travelled in the vicinity of Wanganui Rd in Shepparton on the morning of December 24, spending time in that area, before travelling to Bunbartha.
Mr Terry reminded the jury that the prosecutor had earlier said Mr D’Elio was in the Ford Territory, while Ms Stott and Mr Clarke were in the Holden Caprice as they headed towards Bunbartha.
“An issue will be if Clarke is guilty of making bad decisions that are less than an agreement to kill anybody,” Mr Terry said.
He urged the jury to think of the court case as “three separate trials”.
While the prosecution ascertained that it was a case about “hatred and retribution”, Mr Terry said none of the evidence of this “relates to Mr Clarke”.
The trial continues.
