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Hannah McGuire murder trial: witness denies knowing victim was inside burnt-out ute Hannah McGuire murder trial: killer claims ex-partner hit her head during argument
(about 2 hours later)
Workmate of accused murderer Lachlan Young tells a jury he did not know 23-year-old was inside ute set on fire in remote bushland Workmate of accused murderer Lachlan Young tells jury he did not know 23-year-old was inside ute set on fire in remote bushland
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A man who claims he saw an accused murderer set fire to a ute has repeatedly denied he knew the alleged victim was inside. The man accused of murdering Victorian woman Hannah McGuire claims the 23-year-old hit her head on the floor and died after an argument became physical.
Benjamin O’Keefe told the Victorian supreme court he knew the orange Mitsubishi Triton belonged either to Hannah McGuire or her family, but claimed he never thought the 23-year-old McGuire was inside the vehicle when he followed Lachlan Young to the remote bushland location. Lachlan Young’s barrister made the allegation as he questioned witness Benjamin O’Keefe over his involvement in McGuire’s death.
“I didn’t know her body was in there,” O’Keefe told the jury on Wednesday. O’Keefe told the Victorian supreme court he saw Young set fire to a Mitsubishi Triton early on 5 April 2024, and only learned later that McGuire’s body had been inside.
Young is accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend in the early hours of 5 April 2024, before driving her body in the Triton to Scarsdale, south-west of Ballarat, and setting the ute alight. But barrister Glenn Casement claimed O’Keefe knew McGuire was in the ute because Young had told him she was dead.
He has admitted to killing McGuire but denies the charge of murder, claiming her death was a spontaneous and unplanned incident. The lawyer said Young had called O’Keefe at 2.53am on 5 April to say “something had happened”.
O’Keefe told the court Young shared a plan with him on 2 April to “roofie” McGuire and cause her to have a car crash in order to scare her out of taking their house.
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Two days later, O’Keefe said he heard a car horn and went to his front lawn to see Young waiting inside the Mitsubishi Triton. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email
O’Keefe told the jury he did not look inside the ute and obeyed Young’s instructions to follow behind in his vehicle. When O’Keefe allegedly arrived at his workmate’s Sebastopol home in regional Victoria, Young’s lawyer said, the accused explained he had forcibly pushed McGuire during an argument, and that she had fallen, hit her head on the bathroom floor and died.
He claimed they went to Scarsdale where Young drove the Triton into some trees and then ordered O’Keefe to turn his car around. Young has admitted he killed his ex-girlfriend but denies murdering her, instead offering to plead guilty to manslaughter over what he claims was a spontaneous and unplanned incident.
Young then used a yellow blowtorch to set fire to the front of the Triton, O’Keefe told the jury. That offer was rejected by prosecutors at the start of his murder trial.
O’Keefe claimed Young gave him $45 after the incident without an explanation. Casement claimed O’Keefe saw McGuire on the floor and devised a plan with Young to move her body to Scarsdale.
He told the jury he deleted security camera footage of him leaving and returning to his house because he did not want to be connected to the car fire. The lawyer alleged the pair drove in convoy to the remote bushland and, when they arrived, O’Keefe was the one to set fire to the Triton using his own blowtorch.
But he maintained he only suspected McGuire was in the vehicle after he learned she had died later that day. O’Keefe rejected the claim he was the one to start the fire, maintaining he stayed in his own car as Young lit the blaze.
Casement claimed O’Keefe then lied about his involvement to avoid being charged as an accessory to murder.
He denied all of the defence allegations, repeatedly saying he never went to Young’s home and did not know McGuire’s body was in the ute.
He told the court Young had told him on 2 April that he would “roofie” McGuire and fabricate a crash with her in a car, so he could scare her out of taking their house.
Two days later, O’Keefe said Young had arrived at his house in the Mitsubishi ute and instructed him to follow behind in his vehicle.
He claimed they went to Scarsdale where Young drove the Triton into some trees and then used a yellow blowtorch to set fire to the front of the vehicle.
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O’Keefe said he visited Young, worried he may have been implicated in a murder. O’Keefe claimed Young gave him $45 after the incident without an explanation.
“I went up to him and said, ‘Hannah better not have been in that car’,” he told the jury. He admitted he then deleted security camera footage from his home, but said he wiped the recording because he did not want to be connected to the car fire.
He maintained he only suspected McGuire was in the vehicle after he learnt she had died later that morning.
O’Keefe said he visited Young after learning the news, worried he may have been implicated in a murder.
“I went up to him and said ‘Hannah better not have been in that car’,” he told the jury.
He claimed Young told him McGuire was already dead as she had been suffocated.He claimed Young told him McGuire was already dead as she had been suffocated.
Under questioning from defence barrister Glenn Casement, O’Keefe repeatedly denied he knew McGuire was in the Triton.
O’Keefe admitted he did not contact police, instead deciding to drink with Young and then go on a camping trip with friends.O’Keefe admitted he did not contact police, instead deciding to drink with Young and then go on a camping trip with friends.
Detectives arrested O’Keefe on 7 April but he was never charged over McGuire’s death. He was arrested and questioned over McGuire’s death, the court heard, but was never charged.
The trial continues. The trial before Justice James Elliott continues.