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~Wolf From Atlanta~
[OZ] Found guilty from beyond the grave
Sat Mar 6 2004 2:22:35 pm
65.45.168.11
Found guilty from beyond the grave
KAY DIBBEN
March 7, 2004
A STATEMENT from beyond the grave was crucial in sending an
alleged drug czar to jail for the brutal 1999 home invasion and
torture of a Gold Coast couple.
VICTIMS: Wayne and Shelley Boyd at court for an earlier hearing
Prosecutors went to extraordinary lengths to convict Finks
motorcycle gang member Charles Edward Cannon of home invasion,
torture, deprivation of liberty, assault occasioning bodily harm
and stealing.
Two key Crown witnesses were locked up to make sure they appeared
in court. One was later jailed for contempt of court after he
steadfastly refused to answer the prosecutor's questions.
The Gold Coast home invasion victim, Wayne Boyd, was later
murdered in Victoria in 2001 while arranging an amphetamines
deal.
Police believe his murder was unrelated to the brutal home
bashing.
During the Southport District Court trial, which ended 10 days
ago, police read evidence from the dead victim which proved
crucial in convicting Cannon, who was jailed for six years.
Four men dressed in balaclavas smashed their way into the Gold
Coast home of Boyd and his wife Shelley in April, 1999, as their
two young children slept upstairs.
Over the next half hour Boyd was viciously bashed, had a gun
barrel shoved in his mouth and was threatened that he would have
a finger cut off if he did not give the men money.
Shelley Boyd, who feared for the safety of their two children,
had a pistol held at her head and was tied up.
The intruders tried to escape with some of the $80,000 Boyd had
hidden in the hollow leg of a picnic table.
During Cannon's trial Crown prosecutor Mark Whitbread had two
witnesses declared hostile, allowing him to introduce the
evidence they gave during closed-door Australian Crime Commission
hearings last year.
Neil Hudson, who served 20 months of a five-year jail term for
his part in the home invasion, was jailed for four months for
contempt of court after he refused to give evidence against
Cannon.
Hudson and his girlfriend Kellie Quarm were arrested and held in
custody until their court appearance after they ignored summonses
and failed to show up on the first day of the trial.
The Crown case was that Cannon was the ringleader in the attack
on Boyd, motivated by revenge for a previous assault or because
he wanted money.
About 9pm on April 9, 1999, Boyd answered a knock at the door of
his two-storey home at Maudsland, west of Coomera, from a man who
said: "I've heard you've lost your dog."
Boyd saw a figure dressed all in black, sensed something was
wrong and went for a can of mace.
But before he could open the door the four intruders smashed in
the leadlight window and forced their way in.
The men, who all wore balaclavas, soon overpowered Boyd and
repeatedly bashed and kicked him, with one putting a pistol in
his mouth.
In his opening address to the jury Mr Whitbread said: "If
that's not torture, what is?"
Boyd told police the men said if he didn't tell them where his
money was they would cut his finger off.
He believes he blacked out before waking to find himself in the
lounge room, being hit with a shovel.
By then Boyd, who kept telling the men he did not have any money,
was bleeding profusely from facial injuries and had a broken arm.
But his ordeal was far from over.
He had tape put over his eyes and a rag shoved in his mouth.
His hand was held down as someone started cutting both sides of
his pinky finger with a sharp instrument.
"I really thought at this stage I was going to die . . . I
told them the money was in the PVC tubing of an outdoor
table," Boyd later told police.
Boyd had said the money – $50 and $100 bills in $5000 lots
– was earned through hard work. But it is more likely it was
the proceeds of his amphetamines dealing.
While the thugs were attacking Boyd, his wife managed to make a
quick phone call to police, before one of the thugs pointed a
pistol at her.
"I was pushed down, my hands were tied up and tape put
across my mouth and wrapped around my hand," she told the
court.
Police arrived and arrested two intruders, but the other two
escaped, including Cannon, who had a police handcuff on one
wrist.
Constable Simon Buxton told the court he had to let go of the
partly handcuffed offender to go to the aid of his partner after
he heard the officer say, "He's got my gun".
"I could see clearly that the firearm they were grappling
with was pointed directly at my partner's chest," Constable
Buxton said.
He fired warning shots before letting go of the other offender
and overpowering the man grabbing the gun.
Victoria Police homicide detectives are still actively pursuing
the Wayne Boyd murder investigation.
Acting Detective Inspector Lucio Rovis said all indications were
that the murder was the result of Boyd's involvement with
Melbourne drug world figures in an amphetamines deal.
The Sunday Mail (Qld)
