Darryl Young triple murder trial: survivor erupts in court

The survivor of an alleged triple murder which killed his family erupted in court after questioning from the accused’s defence team, yelling “Darryl was at the front gate”.

Ross Tighe gave evidence in the trial against Darryl Valroy Young, 63, who has pleaded not guilty to murdering his neighbour Graham Tighe, his mother Maree Schwarz and stepfather Mervyn Schwarz at the front gates of Young’s property on August 4, 2022 at Bogie.

Young has also pleaded not guilty to attempting to murder Ross Tighe who was allegedly shot and escaped.

Defence barrister Anthony Timmins suggested to Mr Tighe that Young was never at the front gates of his property the morning of the shooting, to which Mr Tighe yelled “Darryl was at the front gate”.

The outburst came after questioning from the defence about Mr Tighe’s finances, cannabis use, and a string of personal text messages between him and his former partner.

The second witness in the case – mustering worker Shane Dendle – also took the stand and told the jury how he overheard a phone call between Graham and Young the night before the alleged shooting where Young sounded “angry” and wanted to meet the following day.

Young is accused of shooting the trio dead at the gates of his property, Shannonvale Station, after allegedly implying the family had stolen some of his calves.

Mr Tighe told the jury he watched Young get a gun from his car and shoot his stepfather in the face, before Mr Tighe said he ran for his life.

The jury heard that Mr Tighe returned to the scene to find his family dead before getting in one of their cars and driving back to the family’s property, Sutherland, with a gunshot wound to his stomach.

Mr Tighe gave evidence that he then came across friend and mustering worker, Shane Dendle, driving a truck.

Mr Dendle told the jury on Wednesday that he saw Mr Tighe “coming in pretty hot” down the road in a maroon ute before coming to a stop on the side of the road.

Mr Dendle said he could tell Mr Tighe was hurt as he was “holding his guts” and he could “see he was bleeding”.

He told the jury he put Mr Tighe behind the seats in the truck he was driving and that he was in “some pain … he was white as a ghost.”

Mr Dendle also told the jury about a conversation he overheard while having a beer with Graham sometime after 7pm on August 3, 2022 when Graham received a phone call from who he alleged was Young.

He said after a short time, Graham put the call on speaker phone and he recognised Young’s voice.

Crown Prosecutor David Nardone asked what Young’s voice had been like over the phone, to which Mr Dendle replied he was “angry”.

Mr Nardone asked Mr Dendle if he remembered what was said.

“Yeah … that he wanted to see Graham, Ross, and Merv and Maree that morning,” Mr Dendle said.

“I heard him say that he’d seen like a mob of wet cows on the fence with no calves.”

Mr Nardone asked if Graham said anything to Young, to which Mr Dendle said, “yeah he said ‘(we’re) not pinching ya calves’ like he’d got enough on.”

Mr Dendle said there was a plan to meet at 8am at the boundary gate between the two properties, but he did not know who suggested the meeting point.

Mr Kimmins suggested “there was no actual discussion in relation to meeting up the next morning”, and suggested a series of other conversations the pair could have had.

Mr Dendle did not accept any other version of the conversation had on the phone call that he overheard.

In Mr Kimmins last line of questioning to Mr Tighe, he suggested that Young was not at the front gates of his property on the morning of August 4.

“He was there,” Mr Tighe said.

“At any stage he wasn’t there, was there injuries and people were shot?,” Mr Kimmins pressed.

“What the f**k are you saying, what does that mean?,” Mr Tighe said.

“That Darryl was not at the front gate,” Mr Kimmins replied.

“Darryl was at the front gate,” Mr Tighe yelled.

The jury was also shown various text messages between Mr Tighe and his former partner, Kaitlin Jordan, including one that referred to her having bruises on her body.

The message from Ms Jordan to Mr Tighe read, “You have a good kick on you, too” and “my ribs are very bruised and my mouth is very cut”.

Mr Tighe denied ever kicking Kaitlin or any woman, or causing any bruises to her.

Mr Kimmins also pressed Mr Tighe on cannabis use, including asking if he ever helped anyone grow cannabis.

Mr Tighe claimed his privilege for this question.

Mr Tighe was also questioned about the evidence he gave to police after the shooting where he told detectives he thought the gun Young was holding was a .222 or .223 calibre rifle.

The jury was told on Monday that spent cartridges from a 30-30 rifle were located at the crime scene.

Mr Tighe said he was more worried about his life than the type of gun.

“But also when someone points at you and started to shoot, I wasn’t really worried about the type of gun, I was worried about getting the f**k out the road,” Mr Tighe said.

The trial continues.