The body of a man allegedly murdered in north-west Tasmania in 2022 was “unrecognisable” to a volunteer firefighter who knew him and discovered his body, a court has heard.
Warning: This article contains details of an assault.
The Burnie Supreme Court heard Dean Jupp, 59, was found slumped against a car outside his home in the small community of Sprent on January 23, 2022.
Dane Ronald Pyke and Blaise Christopher Baddeley have been charged with his murder, and are also accused of aggravated armed robbery, aggravated burglary and several other charges.
They have pleaded not guilty.
Police van at a Chilcotts Road property at Sprent where Mr Jupp’s body was found in January 2022. (ABC News: Craig Heerey )
Crown prosecutor John Ransom told the court the two men had planned to steal guns from Mr Jupp’s property, and that they assaulted him before the robbery.
“He was struck to the head with wrenches,” Mr Ransom said.
“And significantly, his ribs are broken, which causes a lung collapse and ultimately his death.”
Mr Ransom said someone had jumped or stomped on Mr Jupp’s chest, and that during the assault he was also bound with an electrical cord and dragged across the ground.
Firefighters’ gruesome discovery
On Thursday morning the court heard from firefighters who discovered Mr Jupp’s body.
The court heard a triple-0 call was made reporting a vegetation fire at Chilcott’s Road, Sprent, and crews from Sprent and Ulverstone were the first on the scene shortly after 8pm that night.
Firefighter Jake Williams and the Sprent crew were first to arrive at the property, which Mr Williams knew to be Mr Jupp’s home, and discovered the fire was in fact a car that had been set alight.
His crew extinguished the car and the nearby edge of a verandah that had also begun to burn, during which time Ulverstone volunteer Kara Burke had arrived.
“The scene started to look a bit odd, so we thought we’d have a bit of a look around,” Mr Williams said.
Ms Burke said, “it looked like it had been ransacked”.
Sprent is a small, rural locality 25 kilometres from Devonport. (ABC News: April McLennan)
There was a distinct smell of petrol inside the caravan in which Mr Jupp lived, a smashed glass sliding door and a pot of saveloys boiling on the stove.
Significantly, the firefighters noticed drops of blood on the floor.
The court heard they put out the fire in the stove and then began searching the sheds and shipping containers outside, which were open.
“There was lots of things flung around and thrown out of the containers,” Ms Burke said.
“That’s when I found Jupp’s body leaning up against a car.”
Mr Williams was asked to describe Mr Jupp’s appearance.
“Unrecognisable and deceased,” he answered.
A crime scene was established, and the investigation into the cause of Mr Jupp’s death and the fires began.
The court heard Mr Jupp had lived at the property for about a decade. (ABC News: April McLennan)
Alleged victim attempted to escape
The court heard Mr Jupp lived alone in a caravan on the property. The car that was set alight was a Ford Laser belonging to his mother.
Mr Jupp’s sister, Angela Rogers, said her brother had lived there for about 10 years, and that he worked at the Saputo cheese factory in Burnie.
“He had a couple of pigs, he had chickens, and he had his dog,” Ms Rogers said.
Friend Michael Hilfenhaus said he would speak to Mr Jupp on the phone regularly and visit the property about three times a week to have a beer or two.
The court heard the property had been burgled before, and firearms had previously been stolen.
The jury was told Mr Jupp was a keen recreational shooter, that nine firearms were registered in his name, and that he shared that interest with several of his friends.
A man was arrested in connection to the alleged murder during a police raid on this house in East Devonport. (ABC News: Damian McIntyre )
Mr Ransom told the court the accused men’s initial plan to steal the firearms “widened” to include violence once they arrived at the property, and that Mr Jupp had attempted to flee the property before Mr Pyke and Mr Baddeley “caught” him.
Defence lawyers Kirsten Abercromby and Olivia Jenkins told the court their clients were not responsible for Mr Jupp’s death, nor did they aid or encourage another person to kill him.
Ms Abercromby said Mr Pyke was there, that he was injured and bled heavily on that night, but that did not mean he was guilty of the charges.
She warned the jury the trial would be upsetting, and that Mr Jupp’s death was “tragic”.
“It’s unpleasant and it will be confronting … but emotions play no part in your deliberations.”
The trial before Justice Tamara Jago is expected to run for four weeks.
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