Workmate shares alleged plan to 'roofie' murder victim
Benjamin O'Keefe told the Victorian Supreme Court that Lachlan Young shared his plan to harm his former partner Hannah McGuire on April 2, 2024.
"He started talking about wanting to roofie Hannah and take her out bush and scare her so she wouldn't take the house and other things from him," Mr O'Keefe said in evidence on Tuesday.
Mr O'Keefe claimed Young asked him to act as a getaway driver, which he ultimately declined after speaking to his girlfriend.
Two days later, Mr O'Keefe said he received another message from Young asking him to meet at a nearby corner at midnight.
Mr O'Keefe told the jury he went to the designated spot without his phone but Young wasn't there so he returned home.
He then heard a car horn and went to his front lawn to see Young waiting inside an orange Mitsubishi Triton.
Mr O'Keefe told the jury he did not look inside the ute and instead just obeyed Young's instructions to follow behind in his vehicle.
He claimed they went out to remote bushland where Young drove the Triton into some trees and then ordered Mr O'Keefe to turn his car around.
Young then used a yellow blow torch to set fire to the front of the Triton, Mr O'Keefe told the jury.
After holding the blowtorch there for a few minutes, it's alleged Young then returned to Mr O'Keefe's car but told him to wait a minute.
"(We were) just watching the car to make sure it caught on fire," Mr O'Keefe told the jury.
"That's what Lachie wanted."
Mr O'Keefe claimed Young gave him $45 after the incident although he never explained why.
Young is accused of murdering Ms McGuire in the early hours of April 5, before driving her body in the Triton to remote bushland and setting the ute alight.
The 23-year-old has admitted to killing Ms McGuire but denies the charge of murder, claiming her death was a spontaneous and unplanned incident.
In his opening address, defence barrister Glenn Casement told the jury they should be critical of Mr O'Keefe's evidence, saying he was not a credible witness.
Mr Casement is expected to cross-examine Mr O'Keefe on Wednesday after senior crown prosecutor Kristie Churchill finishes her questioning.
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