Jury finds farmer guilty over murder of environmental officer

A NSW Supreme Court jury returned its verdict in the trial of Ian Turnbull on Friday afternoon after six and a half hours of deliberations.

The five-week trial heard Turnbull, 81, shot Office of Environment and Heritage officer Glen Turner three times at Croppa Creek in July 2014  after a lengthy legal battle with the department.

A sentence hearing has been set for June 15.

EARLIER

A SUPREME Court jury has been asked to decide if elderly farmer Ian Turnbull should be “condemned as a murderer” for the fatal shooting of compliance officer Glen Turner at Croppa Creek.

In summing up the case to the jury yesterday, Justice Peter Johnson said the onus was on Mr Turnbull to establish, on the balance of probabilities, that at the time his capacity to understand right or wrong or to control himself was substantially impaired by an underlying mental illness.

Justice Johnson said the jury also had to be satisfied the impairment was so severe that his criminal responsibility should be reduced from murder to the lesser crime of manslaughter.

He told them to make a “value judgment” based on community standards and common sense.

“It’s the state of mind of the accused at this time which is the central point of this trial,” Justice Johnson said.

That Mr Turnbull, was, at the time of Mr Turner’s death, aged 79, and had a reputation for being a successful farmer and had no criminal history should be taken into account.

But they should also note Mr Turnbull gave evidence that he intended to kill Mr Turner and the 51-year-old’s death followed an ambush on Talga Ln before a cat-and-mouse chase around a car that lasted at least 22 minutes. 

Under cross-examination, Crown Prosecutor Pat Barrett put to Mr Turnbull: “You aimed to kill him both times, didn’t you.”

“Yes,” Mr Turnbull replied.

When asked by his barrister, Todd Alexis, what he was thinking as he was driving down Talga Ln, Croppa Creek, towards the spot where Mr Turner had been spotted taking pictures of alleged illegal land clearing, Mr Turner said: “I think I was thinking I’m going to shoot him.”

The trial heard that as Mr Turner bled heavily and his colleague Robert Strange begged to be allowed to seek medical help, Mr Turnbull allegedly said: “The only way he is going is in a body bag.”

Mr Alexis  asked him how he felt after firing the first shot, which hit Mr Turner in the chin and neck.

“Once I fired the first shot, the calmness came over me like I couldn’t believe and that was it, it was finished.”

Mr Turnbull went on to fatally wound Mr Turner in the back as he made a final desperate attempt to escape.

“When he fell, I thought, ‘I’ve killed him’ and I didn’t want to kill him. I don’t know why I thought a bullet wouldn’t kill him, but that’s the way it was.”

The defence case is that at the time, Mr Turnbull was suffering from a major depressive disorder, as diagnosed by two forensic psychiatrists since he has been in custody.

The Crown says if Mr Turnbull had any mental illness, it was a mild adjustment disorder, not a major depression.

Mr Barrett said in the weeks leading up to the killing, Mr Turnbull was getting “angry” under the accumulation of a variety of pressures but he was functioning.