The man who beat a stranger to death with a wooden garden stake — because they interrupted his argument with a woman — has apologised for his actions that were fuelled by anger issues and meth addiction, a court has been told.
Robert Joseph Patard, 45, initially denied murdering Shaun Russell in September 2019 but backflipped on his not guilty plea just four days into his trial.
The father of five will automatically receive a life sentence for admitting to the murder.
The South Australian Supreme Court was on Friday told that Patard was “sorry” for his actions, wasting court resources and putting the victim’s family through stress during the proceedings.
Nick Healy, for Patard, acknowledged that his client had “uncontrolled and unwarranted” anger issues that were exacerbated by his lifelong methamphetamine abuse.
“He takes full responsibility. The fault was his alone. The victim did nothing to warrant any attack, let alone one as vicious as this,” the lawyer said.
“He recognises that he is going to be an old man at the time of his eventual release from prison.”
Mr Healy said his client’s plea change should be considered when he was sentenced as it saved time with the trial and avoided the victim’s family sitting through more proceedings.
He said suggestions from the prosecution that Patard had intended to kill was difficult to prove because he didn’t have a gun or knife.
Prosecutor Gemma Litster earlier argued that Patard intended to kill Mr Russell because of the “concentrated” and “forceful” blows to his face as well as disposing of the weapon and dissuading others from entering the park.
“He was capable of controlling his behaviour,” Ms Litster said.
“They were deliberate, conscious acts to try and cover his tracks.”
He also argued that the killer’s belated guilty plea was not done so because he felt remorse or contrition but because he realised the case against him was too strong.
Therefore, Ms Litster said no credit needed to be given when Justice Anne Bampton handed down the defendant's non-parole period.
The victim’s mother Dawn Russell told the court that her family’s lives had not been the same since Mr Russell’s death.
She remembered her son as a “kind-hearted”, forgiving person who “loved having people around him” and often put others needs before his.
“We will have a gathering at our home with friends and family. We will toast Shaun and remember all the joy he brought us as a child, his larrikin ways as a teenager and hixjmtzyws times of clarity as an adult,” Mrs Russell said.
“Shaun still had time for a life to keep living, for hopes of a relationship and possibility of his own family, time to see his own nephew grow.”
As the murder victim walked home through Hackham West Reserve, after watching some of the AFL grand final at a friend’s house, he came across the defendant and a woman and interrupted their argument.
It led to Mr Russell’s death, with the force of three blows crushing the base of his skull.
In the trial opening, Ms Litster told a jury that Patard fled the scene and disposed of the weapon in a concealed area while Mr Russell was badly injured, lying on the ground and bleeding from the head.
The defendant is due to reappear for sentencing next week.
