Killer thought he was Prince Harry’s favourite bodyguard and claimed to have saved Australia against foreign forces 30 times before shooting dead a drifter in a car park, court hears
- Simon Slavko Stojic fronted court over shooting of Brett Jardine in July 2017
- Court heard Stojic had paranoid and grandiose delusions at time of incident
- Stojic believed he was a secret operative and bodyguard, the court heard
- He allegedly believed Queen had plane on standby for him in case of emergency
A Sydney office furniture salesman who believed he was Prince Harry’s preferred bodyguard was not criminally responsible when he shot dead a man staying in a campervan, a judge has been told.
Simon Slavko Stojic, 49, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Brett Jardine in the early hours of July 26, 2017 in a Kingsgrove car park, near the offices of Statewide Office Furniture.
Mr Jardine was staying in the campervan after travelling to Sydney from Victoria the previous month to work on the WestConnex road project.
Shortly before the 43-year-old was fatally shot in the left shoulder and abdomen, he rang triple-zero to report a man hanging around his vehicle and kicking the door.
A Sydney office furniture salesman who believed he was Prince Harry’s preferred bodyguard was not criminally responsible when he shot dead a man staying in a campervan, a judge has been told
Lawyers for the Crown and the defence on Thursday made their final submissions to Justice Robertson Wright, who heard the NSW Supreme Court trial without a jury.
He’s heard evidence about numerous paranoid and bizarre conspiracy theory statements Stojic made to friends and colleagues in the lead-up to the shooting.
He spoke of being a secret operative for ASIO, the CIA and the royal family, saying the Queen had a private plane on standby at Bankstown airport in case anything went wrong.
Stojic said he was the preferred bodyguard for both Princess Diana and Prince Harry and had stopped Australia from being attacked by foreign powers approximately 30 times.
Prosecutor Rohan Cooley on Thursday noted the defence concession there was no dispute Stojic performed the physical act of killing Mr Jardine.
Nevertheless the Crown pointed to ‘ample evidence’ indicating Stojic was the shooter, including CCTV footage as well as things he said afterwards.
Before Mr Jardine’s workmates found his body in the campervan, Stojic whispered to an associate ‘there is a dead body in there’ and ‘they are going to find occult shit in the back of the van’.
‘He is the kind of guy who can kill you without a gun,’ he said.
Stojic said the man was an ‘operative’ while he himself was a federal agent who had to shoot him because ‘either he’s dead or I’m dead’.
Mr Cooley referred to psychiatric evidence concluding Stojic suffered from a chronic delusional disorder involving persecutory and grandiose beliefs.
Simon Slavko Stojic, 49, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Brett Jardine in the early hours of July 26, 2017 in a Kingsgrove car park, near the offices of Statewide Office Furniture (pictured, NSW Supreme Court)
Professor David Greenberg said Stojic had some knowledge that murder was ‘legally wrong’ but because of his severe mental illness didn’t know it was ‘morally wrong’.
Stojic’s barrister Hament Dhanji SC said there was abundant evidence, and no contest between the parties, about the tragic death of Mr Jardine.
He submitted the judge would be ‘well and truly satisfied on the balance of probabilities’ that the defence of mental illness had been made out.
‘This is a case where the evidence is not only one way, but it seems to be one of those cases which perhaps caused the various doctors little pause in coming to their conclusions,’ he said.
Justice Wright will deliver his verdict on June 12.