The man who is accused of torturing and murdering a teenager inside a Sydney sharehouse was blamed by a group of men who also took part in the grisly crime, his lawyer has argued.
Yigit Erdogan, 22, is standing trial in the NSWxjmtzyw Supreme Court where he has denied leading a group of men which allegedly beat and stabbed a 17-year-old to death before burying him in the Blue Mountains.
He has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Justin Tsang at Burwood Heights in March 2019.
The prosecution has claimed the teen was kidnapped, tortured, murdered and buried at Jamison Lookout over a $500 dispute.
The court has heard the teen was last seen alive by his family on March 11, 2019 before he was reported missing four days later.
One man, who cannot be identified, who was in the Burwood Heights house on the day of the alleged murder, told the court the killing occurred around 1pm-2pm. He told the court Mr Tsang’s body, which was wrapped in plastic, was dumped around midnight before making the trip back to Sydney.
The court has heard the 17-year-old was stripped to his underwear before Mr Erdogan – who was known to his friends as John – hit him with a wrench.
Mr Tsang was also stabbed and beaten in the head with a cricket bat.
The crown has alleged the teenager died in the house, with Mr Erdogan and all the housemates cleaning up the house.
A post-mortem found the 17-year-old had 25 stab wounds to the neck and a fractured skull, crown prosecutor Ken McKay has told the court.
His body was discovered eight days after he was last seen by his family.
The witness told the court on Thursday he was alerted to Mr Tsang’s death after being told by one of the housemates and came out to see the teen’s legs protruding from underneath some paper towel.
In his statement to police, the man – who has not been charged over his role in the death of Mr Tsang – said during the clean-up he told his friends to blame their roles on Mr Erdogan.
He said to officers he had at one point told his friends that if they were caught, to put their actions “on John”, the court heard on Thursday.
“Because I was scared for my friends … Just out of fear and anxiety for my friends, I told them that if we are caught, I told them to put his role, ask him to put what he did on John, as he was under the influence of prohibited drugs,” the man told officers at the time.
“And he would not be able to remember perfectly what happened.”
The man said he made the admission to police freely and the full account he gave was truthful.
Defence barrister Angus Webb suggested to the witness the group of men had tried to blame Mr Erdogan for parts of their roles.
During his opening address to the jury earlier this week, Mr Webb suggested Mr Erdogan had been involved in the early parts of the incident and the clean-up, but disputed taking part in the alleged murder.
“You mean it well and truly that we could blame John because he was bombed out and he wouldn’t really know what happened,” Mr Webb said.
“That’s what you’re saying here.”
The man replied: “I was scared for myself, my friends that night.”
The trial continues.
