Cassius Turvey murder trial: Accused Brodie Palmer claims he saw Jack Brearley use axe to create metal pole

One of the men on trial for the murder of Cassius Turvey claims he saw his co-accused using an axe to break off the metal handle from a shopping trolley that prosecutors claim was used to bash the teenager. During his second day of evidence, Brodie Palmer proclaimed that up until today he had not been completely honest regarding the events of October 13, 2022 but now wanted to set the record straight. When asked by his lawyer Christian Porter why the jury should believe him now, the former FIFO worker told the court he had been sitting in the WA Supreme Court for the past nine weeks “listening to all the untruthful and inaccurate accounts of everyone that’s come up, and it’s time for me to tell my truth.” Mr Palmer, along with Jack Brearley, Aleesha Gilmore and Mitchell Forth are on trial charged with the murder of the 15-year-old who died from bleeding on the brain ten days after he was struck on the head with a metal pole. Cassius had been at an oval in Middle Swan with more than a dozen teenagers to watch a fight between Ms Gilmore’s younger brother and two other teens when a group of strangers turned up accusing them of smashing car windows. This caused the group of teens to flee, including Cassius, who tried to take cover in bushland. Prosecutors allege it was Mr Brearley who delivered the blow that cost the teenager his life, but also charged the other three with murder, arguing they knew his intent before the incident. Mr Brearley denies he hit Cassius with a pole, claiming he only punched the teen in the head with his fist and that it was Mr Palmer who struck him with the pole. But in his evidence on Thursday, Mr Palmer denied the allegation, telling the court he was still in his car when the teenager was lying on the ground and only ventured out after he heard Jack call out for help. “I got out of the car barefoot and walked through the bush and creek, where I came across Jack. He was standing bent over and yelling at him (Cassius) for the name of a kid who had the knife,” he said on Thursday. On Friday, Mr Palmer told the court before they left the Gilmore house that afternoon he saw Mr Brearley and Mr Forth smashing trolleys in the alleyway next to the house. “So I saw Jack and Mitch down the end (of the alleyway),” he said. “Jack was breaking up trolleys … smashing them on the corner.” “He was lifting the trolleys up, sort lifting to the side and chucking them down onto the plastic ends … where handles are.” Mr Palmer said he saw Mr Forth try to break a handle off the shopping trolley but “couldn’t do it so Jack was showing him how to do it.” When asked if he saw an axe in the alleyway, Mr Palmer said he saw Mr Brearley using it to “break the last part of the trolley off.” He then said he saw Mr Brearley with at least two poles and Mr Forth with one but that he then left it in the alleyway. In his evidence last week, Mr Brearley denied he used an axe to break off the metal handle from a shopping trolley claiming he was only in the alleyway that day to complete a drug deal. He also claimed it was either Mr Forth or Mr Palmer who handed him a trolley pole before they left the house. Earlier, Mr Palmer detailed to the court how he had been a regular methamphetamine user and grew cannabis at his parents’ Wundowie property. He also said he met Mr Brearley through a drug contact because he wanted someone to sell his weed. The trial continues.