Bogie triple murder accused tells jury he 'didn't shoot family'
A man accused of shooting four people, killing three,at the gate of his north Queensland cattle station in 2022 has told a jury he "didn't shoot the family" and did not possess the calibre of rifle that prosecutors allege was the murder weapon.
Darryl Valroy Young, 63, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, after Mervyn and Maree Schwarz and Graham Tighe were found dead at the gate of his Bogie property, Shannonvale Station.
Maree Schwarz (left), Mervyn Schwarz (middle) and Graham Tighe (right) were found dead outside the gate of a Bogie cattle station in 2022. (Supplied/ABC News)
The trial in the Supreme Court at Townsville earlier heard from Ross Tighe, who said he suffered a bullet wound in the shooting allegedly carried out by Mr Young.
Mr Young's lawyers have told the trial their client was not at the gate of Shannonvale Station at the time of the alleged shooting and never saw the family on that day.
Mr Young, who first took the witness box on Thursday, returned on Friday for continued cross-examination.
Grazier's denial
Crown prosecutor David Nardone showed the court a photo of a spent .30-30 rifle cartridge which police told the trial was found inside Mr Young's home.
"I didn't shoot the family and it's not mine," Mr Young said when he was shown a photo of the spent round in his kitchen.
The prosecutor has told the trial that the calibre of rifle used to shoot the Schwarzes and Tighes was a .30-30.
David Nardone cross-examined Mr Young. (ABC News: Carole Howlett)
On Thursday, Mr Nardone accused Mr Young of using a .30-30 rifle in the shooting and throwing it into a mine shaft on his property afterwards.
Mr Young, a licensed firearm holder, did not have a .30-30 rifle registered to him and none were found on his property, the court heard.
During his evidence, Mr Young said hunters visited his property while he was at work and may have left the ammunition behind.
Cameras removed
Mr Young was questioned about motion detection cameras which he said he removed from his front gate the morning of August 3, 2022, the day before the alleged triple murder.
Darryl Valroy Young sat in the witness box in Thursday and Friday. (ABC News: Carole Howlett)
Mr Nardone presented a dark photo which he said was taken from one of the gate cameras after 8:00pm on August 3, 2022, after Mr Young allegedly called Graham Tighe to arrange a morning meeting at the gate.
"You would have had time to complete the telephone call with Graham Tighe and get to the front gate," Mr Nardone said.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.