Friday, March 2, 2012

WA: Jurors visit boat in trial of man accused of yacht murders

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WA: Jurors visit boat in trial of man accused of yacht murders

By Selina Day

PERTH, Aug 1 AAP - Jurors hearing the trial of a man accused of killing his lover andher daughter on a yacht before throwing their bodies overboard spent part of today lookingabout the vessel.

Garry Douglas Whitsed, 33, has been charged with wilfully murdering Avril Croft, 57,and her 15-year-old daughter Alahna, and disposing of their bodies in the Timor Sea offremote northern Western Australia.

Whitsed is alleged to have killed the women on July 29 and thrown their bodies intoa bay in Montague Sound off the Kimberley coastline. Their bodies have never been found.

On the 10th day of Whitsed's trial today, the Supreme Court jury, along with lawyersand Justice Kevin Parker, travelled to Fremantle to board Ms Croft's yacht, the Celt.

The vessel has been secured at Water Police headquarters.

Jurors have been told that, after the deaths, Whitsed stayed aboard the 12-metre boatfor three weeks without reporting either woman missing.

He then sailed to Darwin where he told his parents of the deaths, and they reportedthe matter to police.

Whitsed has denied wilfully murdering the pair, claiming he found his lover hangingin the yacht's cabin. He said a cord around her neck had been attached to the yacht'smast, and he thought she was dead.

He said he then picked up a rifle - taken on board to protect the party from salt-watercrocodiles - and let off one shot.

Shortly afterwards, he found Alahna dead on the boat's deck with a head wound.

Jurors have been told Whitsed said he had wrapped the teenager's body in a doona andweighed it down with clam shells before dumping it overboard, because he did not wantthe yacht's dog to smell the body.

The court has also been told he then winched Ms Croft's body above deck with a rope,stuffed it into an oil drum weighed down with a 20kg anchor, and dumped it overboard.

In police interviews in Darwin, conducted three days after he returned, Whitsed saidhis story of two tragedies aboard the yacht was the "utmost truth", and he had loved MsCroft deeply.

The trial continues.

AAP sd/lb/jlw

KEYWORD: WHITSED

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