A Thai-national who last Friday pleaded guilty to his involvement in the 2009 murder of ‘good samaritan’ Luke Mitchell has become a key prosecution witness in the trial of his co-accused.
Teparat Tepsut, 31, was extradited to Australia last Friday and charged after he was first arrested by Thai authorities on July 1, 2014.
He was cross-examined on Thursday in the final preliminary hearing before the trial of the two remaining men implicated in the murder, Sarud Seehaverachart, 32, and Thatiya Terdputham, 39, begins next Monday.
Mr Mitchell was stabbed in the early hours of May 24, 2009, outside a convenience store on Sydney Road, Brunswick, shortly after he stepped in to break up a fight outside a nightclub.
He later died in hospital.
Members of Mr Mitchell’s family were in court on Thursday to hear Mr Tepsut’s testimony.
Mr Tepsut will be the first of 24 witnesses to be heard over the eight-week trial.
Mr Tepsut gave evidence through a translator and answered questions relating to the statement he provided to police on his return to Australia last week.
He implicated Mr Seehaverachart and Mr Terdputham as the main perpetrators in Mr Mitchell’s murder.
Mr Tepsut claimed shortly after the initial scuffle the trio returned to his Brunswick massage parlour where they had been drinking earlier in the night.
It is then alleged the three men armed themselves with up to five kitchen knives before driving back to Sydney Rd to locate Mr Mitchell.
Mr Tepsut alleged Mr Seehaverachart and Mr Terdputham then set upon Mr Mitchell while Mr Tepsut stood some distance away.
He said he didn’t witness the stabbing of Mr Mitchell but that the three men then drove a short distance before disposing the “blood stained” weapons over the fence of an abandoned house.
CCTV vision was also played to the court which showed a number of men, including the witness and the co-accused, acting drunk and disorderly in a Safeway liquor in the hours leading up to the attack on Mr Mitchell.
Mr Tepsut said he and the co-accused had been drinking heavily in the hours prior to the time the vision was captured.
An earlier committal hearing was told bystanders witnessed at least two men confront Mr Mitchell outside the convenience store before they began to attack him.
One witness said she saw one of the men stab Mr Mitchell while he lay on the ground.
The co-accused all departed Australia for Thailand shortly after Mr Mitchell was attacked.
It took two years for both Mr Seehaverachart and Mr Terdputham to be extradited back to Australia to face the charges.
The pair had originally appealed the decision on the grounds they believed they would not receive a fair trial in Victoria due to racism.
The trial has been delayed several times since their return to Australia due to the attempts to extradite Mr Tepsut in relation to the murder.
Both Mr Seehaverachart and Mr Terdputham will plead not guilty to the charge of murder but lawyers for Mr Seehaverachart have entered a guilty plea to the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Mr Tepsut is expected to be sentenced next Wednesday morning.
