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Murder accused 'said he might have killed'
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Sep 1, 2008 - 7:13:13 AM

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ONE of two men accused of murdering a teenager from Sudan allegedly told his girlfriend he thought he "might have killed someone" and showed her where he had hidden a pole used in the attack, a court heard yesterday.

Dylan Giuseppe Sabatino, 20, and Clinton David Rintoull, 22, have been charged with murdering Sudanese refugee and Australian resident Liep Gony.

The 19-year-old died in hospital a day after he was left for dead with severe head injuries on a Noble Park nature strip on September 26, 2007.

Mr Gony's mother, Martha Ojulo, cried out "my son is dead" as details of his injuries were detailed at a committal hearing yesterday.

Paramedics were called when she wailed and later collapsed outside the courtroom, and a youth also fainted outside the court.

Emily Chambers, 17, a former girlfriend of Rintoull, told the court that she had been sharing a house with Rintoull and Sabatino at the time of the death.

A few days before Mr Gony's death, she found the accused men in the kitchen making a sandwich that Rintoull had claimed was for a homeless Sudanese man they had met in a derelict house nearby.

After leaving with the sandwich, the pair allegedly came running back and said they had been chased by a group of 20 Sudanese men. Rintoull called the police, Ms Chambers told the court.

Rintoull appeared angry, she said in her statement: "He said to me something like, 'Look what happens when you try to help one of them.' "

On the night Mr Gony was attacked, Rintoull and Sabatino had been drinking heavily and Rintoull allegedly spray-painted "F--k Da Niggas" on the wall of their home, Melbourne Magistrates Court heard.

He later took a gold-coloured metal pole with him out to the street, where he threw it at a possum, and was "yelling about the Sudanese", Ms Chamber's statement claimed.

Rintoull left the house, and when he returned he allegedly told Ms Chambers he thought he might have killed someone and showed her a pile of grass clippings where he had hidden a pole, her statement said.

Ms Chambers said she and another woman fled to South Australia with Sabatino and Rintoull, and she had spoken to Rintoull before they were arrested for murder. "He told me that he and Dylan had poles and hit the guy 15 times in the head," her statement said.

Sabatino's mother, Julie Sabatino, applied to be excused from giving evidence because she was anxious about how it would affect her relationship with her son.

But magistrate Peter Couzens told the sobbing woman her evidence was crucial: "The death of the young man concerned is very important."

Forensic pathologist Katherine White told the court that Mr Gony died from a blow to the head.

His 27 injuries included skull fractures, traumatic brain injury, a fractured arm, a wound on his forearm and multiple bruises and cuts.

Both of the accused have also been charged with criminal damage.

The hearing continues today.