Jury returns verdict for accused trio in Charlie Gander murder trial

Australia Broadcast Center

a day ago

A Supreme Court jury has found a man guilty of murdering 19-year-old Charlie Gander in 2022, after three days of deliberation.
Mr Gander's body was found on a dirt road in Bunbartha on Christmas Eve after emergency services were called to extinguish a car that had been set on fire.
Kylie Stott, Dimitri D'Elio and Danny Clarke pleaded not guilty to kidnapping, murder and arson in a nearly seven-week trial that heard from emergency services, DNA experts, police officers, and pathologists, and was described by a prosecutor as a case "about retribution".
The jury delivered its verdict at Victoria's Supreme Court on Tuesday afternoon, finding D'Elio, who was aged 24 at the time of offending, guilty of all three charges.
Stott, who was aged 37 at the time, in a relationship with D'Elio, and described by the prosecution as orchestrating the scheme, was found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter, guilty of kidnapping and not guilty of arson.
The jury found Clarke, who was 38 at the time of offending, guilty of kidnapping and not guilty of murder, manslaughter and arson.
All three accused were expressionless as the verdict was read to the court.
During the opening days of the trial, Crown prosecutor Mark Gibson said the court would hear a case "about retribution" and "a desire to punish a person" for what they believed they had done.
He alleged the trio acted as a team to kidnap, kill and incinerate Mr Gander in an "unnecessary, senseless and callous" act.
Mr Gibson told the court the alleged motive was Mr Gander's cooperation with police investigating a firearms breach by Tyson May, who was a good friend of Stott.
Following a police raid in Shepparton in November 2022, Mr Gander gave a police interview and made a witness statement about Mr May possessing a firearm.
Mr May was under a firearms prohibition order, Mr Gibson said.
A disc with the record of Mr Gander's police interview "found its way into the hands of others" and cost Mr Gander "dearly", Mr Gibson said.
He presented evidence to the court, including Google searches from D'Elio's phone for a "dead body in burned car" several days before media coverage of the death, as well as records from Stott's phone labelling the victim as "Charlie dead dog Gander".
As part of court evidence, the jury travelled from Melbourne to Shepparton, Bunbartha and Nathalia to view key locations in the case.
A court appearance to schedule plea dates has been set for later this month.