Covert recordings of Matt Wright, which prosecutors alleged capture him instructing a friend to “torch” evidence following a fatal 2022 helicopter crash, have been laid out for jurors in his Supreme Court trial.
The celebrity crocodile wrangler has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice in the wake of the crash that killed his Netflix co-star Chris “Willow” Wilson and seriously injured pilot Sebastian Robinson.
Mr Wright is not accused of any wrongdoing in relation to the crash, with the charges confined to his alleged attempts to frustrate the investigation that followed.
The court previously heard Mr Wright was allegedly concerned any investigation would expose “systemic under-recording” of flight hours, a practice prosecutors said was common in the industry.
On Thursday, Crown prosecutor Jason Gullaci SC told the jury the recordings captured Mr Wright “putting the hard word” on Mr Robinson to doctor the helicopter’s records while he was laid up in a Brisbane hospital following the crash.
Jason Gullaci SC alleged there was evidence Matt Wright had pressured the injured pilot to doctor records. (ABC News: Dane Hirst)
He said while “there were plenty of people who were doing this under-recording” in the NT, the case was “about the allegation the prosecution makes of [Mr Wright] then doubling down on that and trying to hide it”.
In another recording, Mr Gullaci said Mr Wright was captured discussing the destruction of the flight records with a friend, saying “they are starting to put the pressure on everyone” and “they will start squealing”.
“[Mr Wright’s friend] then says, according to the prosecution case, ‘Whatever, boys, lawyer up boys,'” he said.
Mr Gullaci said the Crown alleged other recordings captured Mr Wright saying “just torch it” and “I reckon CASA are chasing the original to set us up”.
“And Mr Wright then says ‘just burn the c***,'”
the prosecution said.Wright denies allegations
In reply, defence barrister David Edwardson KC said Mr Wright “emphatically denies” the allegations and “the credibility of Sebastian Robinson and his extended family is seriously in issue”.
“Members of the jury, by his pleas of not guilty to all three counts, Matt Wright denies that he did any such thing,” he said.
Matt Wright is being represented by prominent South Australian barrister David Edwardson KC and solicitor Luke Officer. (ABC News: Dane Hirst)
Mr Edwardson said much of the prosecution’s case was based on its interpretation of what were “extremely poor” quality recordings.
He said Mr Wright had personally shown investigators the flight records before his wife, Kaia Wright, uploaded a copy to police.
The lawyer also offered a “word of warning” that jurors “must confine your task to what you hear in this courtroom and nothing else”.
“There has been an extraordinary amount of public interest in this case and this helicopter crash generally,” Mr Edwardson said.
“There have been many ill-informed or scandalous opinions expressed in many different forums, from social media to commercial television.”
Witnesses take stand
The first witness called in the trial on Thursday was Darwin businessman and crocodile farmer Mick Burns, who fought back tears as he recounted the day of Mr Wilson’s death.
Mr Burns said he flew to the crash scene with Mr Wright and accompanied Mr Wilson’s body back to Darwin before speaking with his parents.
Mick Burns is a crocodile farmer. (ABC News: Dane Hirst)
“I remember that somebody gave me Sebastian Robinson’s phone but I can’t remember who that was,” Mr Burns said.
“I gave it to his mother, at the hospital, Darwin hospital, it was that night.”
Former NT Police officer Neil Mellon also testified on Thursday, telling jurors he flew out to the scene of the crash with Mr Wright, becoming visibly emotional in court as he recalled placing Mr Wilson in a body bag.
“He was still attached to the sling, so I had to take the harness off and remove the handgun that was on his hip and I took the mobile phone out of his pocket,”
he said.
In addition to his Netflix show, Matt Wright starred in the Outback Wrangler series by National Geographic. (Suppled: National Geographic, Outback Wrangler)
Mr Mellon said he handed Mr Wilson’s phone to chopper pilot Mick Burbidge who then made a reference to Mr Wilson’s wife, Danielle Wilson.
“It was a fleeting comment, it was just — and again, it didn’t pique my interest, I didn’t pay any attention to it — it was almost a, ‘Haha, oh, Dani doesn’t need to see what’s on that,'” he said.
Mr Mellon said Mr Burbidge told him months later the phone was “gone” and “in the ocean”.
Former police officer Neil Mellon gave evidence in court on Thursday. (ABC News: Dane Hirst)
The jury then heard a recorded statutory declaration Mr Wright made in the days after the crash, in which he told detectives the crocodile egg-collecting was “the only operation in the world that consists of what we’re doing”.
“As much as the lads see it as a fun adventurous day, it’s also a serious operation that we’re doing,” he said on the recording.
When he arrived at the scene, Mr Wright said “everyone was pretty distraught” and “Willow was there with a tarp over him”.
“It just looked like Seb [Robinson] had done everything he could in our training,” he said.
The trial continues in Darwin on Friday.
Key Events
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3h agoThu 7 Aug 2025 at 7:24am
A re-cap of today’s events
Day two of Matt Wright’s criminal trial has wrapped up in the NT’s Supreme Court.
Here’s how the day played out:
- This morning the prosecution finished its opening statement, which included a “critical passage” of a secret recording in which Mr Wright said “torch it”, with prosecution arguing he was referring to the chopper’s log book.
- Defence barrister David Edwardson KC delivered his opening argument, urging the jury to “keep an “open mind” and warning against “scandalous opinion”.
- Jurors then heard from two witnesses — crocodile farmer Mick Burns and ex-police officer Neil Mellon. Both men flew to the scene of the fatal 2022 chopper crash. Mr Burns talked about the perils of crocodile-egg collecting while Mr Mellon spoke about the disposal of the deceased’s phone.
- In the afternoon, the prosecution played a recording of Mr Wright’s statutory declaration in the days after the accident.
Mr Wright talked about the “inherent risks” of crocodile-egg collecting and level of fuel in the chopper.
We’ll be back with you tomorrow morning, 10am ACST, with more live coverage. Thanks for being with us.
3h agoThu 7 Aug 2025 at 6:51am
Court adjourns for the day
That’s all for today.
Apologies for the limited updates this afternoon, I struggled to make out much of what was said in the recording of Matt Wright’s statutory declaration.
We’ll be back with you live from 10am ACST tomorrow with more witnesses.
3h agoThu 7 Aug 2025 at 6:40am
Helicopter had ‘half a tank’ of fuel on board
Matt Wright told Senior Constable Richard Musgrave, in a recorded statutory declaration being played to the jury, that he grabbed the maintenance release form out of the downed helicopter.
The jurors have been given a transcript to help them follow the recording and without it, it’s difficult to hear exactly what’s being said.
But Mr Wright can be heard telling Senior Constable Musgrave he “opened the lid” of the fuel tank and “there was fuel in there, or fluid in there”.
When Senior Constable Musgrave asks him how much, Mr Wright replies “half a tank”.
4h agoThu 7 Aug 2025 at 6:19am
‘It looked like Seb had done everything he could’
In a statutory declaration being played to the jury, Matt Wright is telling the detective what happened after he arrived at the crash site.
It’s difficult to make out full sentences on the recording, but Mr Wright says he “got going as quick as we could” to head out to the scene and learned on the way that Chris “Willow” Wilson had died.
“I saw the boys and everyone was pretty distraught,” he said.
“Willow was there with a tarp over him.
“It just looked like [pilot] Seb [Robinson] had done everything he could in our training.”
After that, Mr Wright said he “went straight to Dani’s” and broke the news of her husband’s death.
4h agoThu 7 Aug 2025 at 6:09am
Technical difficulties
The prosecution has had some issues playing the recording, so they’re just trying to get it back on track.
4h agoThu 7 Aug 2025 at 5:58amMatt Wright explains ‘inherent risks’ in crocodile-egg collecting
In his recorded statutory declaration being played to the jury, Matt Wright is explaining how egg-collecting missions work and the safety measures in place.
Mr Wright says the operation involves workers being lowered into “croc nests” on a “hundred-foot line” attached to the bottom of a helicopter.
“It’s the only operation in the world that consists of what we’re doing,” he says on the recording.
“It’s been a fantastic product, is been a great operation until this day.”
Mr Wright says “usually it’s the crocodiles that’s the danger” and the “choppers [are] being looked after intensively through the season by engineers”.
“It is a business that has its inherent risks, I think people understand that, but we try to minimise every aspect of that to ensure it’s done safely,” he says.
“As much as the lads see it as a fun adventurous day, it’s also a serious operation that we’re doing.”
4h agoThu 7 Aug 2025 at 5:46am
Recess
The jury has taken a short break before the prosecution plays Matt Wright’s recorded statutory declaration.
4h agoThu 7 Aug 2025 at 5:32am
Former police officer says he saw Wright checking chopper’s emergency transmitter
Former police officer Neil Mellon has told the jury he saw Matt Wright and pilot Mick Burbidge “in and around the cockpit” of the downed helicopter, discussing its emergency locator transmitter (ELT), which had failed to activate.
“They unscrewed the dash, lifted it forward, Jock [Purcell] looked inside and said, ‘Yes, its plugged in’ and the dash went down and it was screwed back together,” he said.
Mr Mellon said he understood the helicopter’s flight time recorder, or Hobbs meter, was in that same area but did not know where the ELT was.
“I thought they were looking to check that the ELT was connected,” he said.
5h agoThu 7 Aug 2025 at 5:24am’Dani doesn’t need to see what’s on that’
Former NT Police officer Neil Mellon has detailed his recollection of the scene of the fatal helicopter crash which killed Chris Wilson and seriously injured pilot Sebastian Robinson.
“I think I recall saying to the group of people there, ‘What do we need to do to make this helicopter safe?’ because there was fuel and oil and fluids leaking,” he said.
“The last thing we needed was an electrical fire or fault or something happening while we’re all in the immediate vicinity.
“I recall that Jock Purcell said he disconnected the battery.”
Mr Mellon said he then approached Mr Wilson after being directed by other police officers over the phone to place him into a body bag.
“He was still attached to the sling, so I had to take the harness off and removed the handgun that was on his hip and I took the mobile phone out of his pocket,” he said.
Mr Mellon said he handed the phone to Mick Burbidge as he was only wearing board shorts due to the last-minute nature of his arrival at the scene.
He said it was then Mr Burbidge made a reference to Mr Wilson’s wife, Danielle Wilson.
Danielle Wilson has been attending the court proceedings in Darwin. (ABC News: Dane Hirst)
“It was a fleeting comment, it was just, and again, it didn’t pique my interest, I didn’t pay any attention to it, it was almost a, ‘Haha, oh, Dani doesn’t need to see what’s on that’.”
Mr Mellon said Mr Burbidge told him months later the phone was “gone” and “in the ocean”.
Mr Mellon later resigned from the police force after being charged over his role in the phone’s disposal.
5h agoThu 7 Aug 2025 at 5:10am
Ex-police officer takes the stand
Former NT Police officer Neil Mellon who flew with Matt Wright and crocodile farmer Mick Burns to the crash site is the next witness.
Mr Mellon says he was off duty when the crash occurred but heard about it from other officers and immediately connected it to the egg-collecting expedition.
“I’d spoken to Chris [Wilson] the day before and knew what was happening,” he said.
“I rang Willow. I think I rang [another police officer] to get further information. The details weren’t clear.”
Neil Mellon (ABC News: Dane Hirst)
Mr Mellon said he then spoke to Mr Wright on the phone and went to meet him at his helicopter hangar at Noonamah before deciding to go with him to the scene due to his experience with specialist policing.
“At the last minute I said to Matt ‘Is there anything else you want me to do while I’m here?’ and he said — it was literally just a three second comment — ‘Come with us’ and I said ‘Absolutely’.”
5h agoThu 7 Aug 2025 at 4:54amWhat is the case about?
For those tuning into our live coverage just now, here’s what the criminal case is about.
Matt Wright is facing three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice, in relation to the aftermath of a fatal chopper crash in 2022.
The helicopter accident occurred on February 28, 2022, during a crocodile egg-collecting mission on the King River, west of Maningrida, in an isolated part of the Top End.
Mr Wright’s close friend and co-star Chris “Willow” Wilson was killed in the crash, and pilot Sebastian Robinson was seriously injured.
The prosecution has said the fatal chopper accident is not the subject of Matt Wright’s charges.
Instead, his charges relate to alleged events in the days and months following the crash.
5h agoThu 7 Aug 2025 at 4:45am
Croc farmer continues evidence
Defence barrister David Edwardson KC is asking crocodile farmer Mick Burns about his business dealings with Matt Wright and the types of fuel used in helicopters.
Mr Edwardson asked about Mr Burns’ previous evidence that he saw Michael Burbidge look in the crashed helicopter’s fuel tank and said it had fuel in it.
Mr Burbidge was piloting one of the other two helicopters on the crocodile egg-collecting mission that day.
Mr Burns says it can be difficult to tell how much fuel is in a helicopter’s tank “when you’re looking straight down”.
“A lot of helicopters, they have a dipstick … because when you look straight down it is difficult to see,” he said.
5h agoThu 7 Aug 2025 at 4:35am
Court resumes
The lunch break is now over with jurors back in their seats.
Defence barrister David Edwardson KC will continue his cross-examination of crocodile farmer Mick Burns.
7h agoThu 7 Aug 2025 at 3:05am
Lunch break
The court has now broken for lunch and we’ll be back with more live coverage from 2pm ACST when crocodile farmer Mick Burns will continue giving evidence.
7h agoThu 7 Aug 2025 at 3:03amMick Burns fights back tears recalling crash scene
Crocodile farmer Mick Burns has fought back tears while telling the jury how he flew to the scene of Chris Wilson’s death.
Mr Burns says he called Matt Wright to ask to be taken to the crash site after learning of the accident that morning.
“I wanted to go out there and I asked to get a helicopter available, he said ‘yes’,” he said.
Mr Burns says Mr Wright flew him to the scene along with former police officer Neil Mellon where he approached Mr Wilson’s body and stayed with him for some time.
Under questioning from Crown prosecutor Jason Gullaci SC, Mr Burns said he didn’t see anyone go near the downed aircraft’s cockpit.
He says he did see helicopter pilot Michael Burbidge look in its fuel tank and asked him if there “was any fuel”, to which he replied “yes”.
But he says he did not see Mr Wright look in the tank and did not remember hearing any discussion about the helicopter’s Hobbs meter.
“I remember that somebody gave me Sebastian Robinson’s phone but I can’t remember who that was,” he said.
Mr Burns said he accompanied Mr Wilson’s body back to Darwin on a CareFlight helicopter and spoke to his parents before going to the hospital with Mr Robinson’s phone.
“I gave it to his mother, at the hospital, Darwin hospital, it was that night,” he said.
7h agoThu 7 Aug 2025 at 2:42am
Croc farmer learns there’s been an accident with one of his crews
Crocodile farmer Mick Burns has told the court he woke up in Melbourne on the morning of the fatal helicopter crash and caught a flight back to Darwin.
Mr Burns said he had contracted the three helicopters that left on the egg collecting trip that day, including IDW piloted by Sebastian Robinson with Christopher Wilson on board and owned by Matt Wright.
Mick Burns is the first witness to give evidence. (ABC News: Dane Hirst)
He says while he was on the plane he started getting messages and missed calls.
“The first one was just a set of GPS coordinates, which I didn’t think anything of,” he said.
Then Mr Burns said he got a message from one of his employees saying “something to the effect that there’d been an accident and he was calling CareFlight“.
“I think I responded that I’m on a plane and I’ll call when I can,” he said.
7h agoThu 7 Aug 2025 at 2:31am
Opening addresses conclude as first witness called
Defence barrister David Edwardson KC has now finished his opening address to the jury, with crocodile farmer Mick Burns due to take the stand.
Mr Burns will give evidence about his involvement in the Northern Territory’s crocodile industry over many years.
8h agoThu 7 Aug 2025 at 2:23amJurors urged to ignore ‘extraordinary’ public interest, ‘scandalous’ opinion
Defence barrister David Edwardson KC has reminded the jury Matt Wright is not on trial for breaching any aviation rules and is not accused of having anything to do with the cause of the crash.
Mr Edwardson offered a “word of warning” that jurors “must confine your task to what you hear in this courtroom and nothing else”.
“There has been an extraordinary amount of public interest in this case and this helicopter crash generally,” he said.
“There have been many ill-informed or scandalous opinions expressed in many different forums, from social media to commercial television.”
Mr Edwardson said it was “very important” jurors “keep an open mind” and “must not prejudge Mr Wright“.
“Please remember there are two sides to every coin and it’s absolutely critical that you not rush to any judgement,” he said.
8h agoThu 7 Aug 2025 at 2:16am
Secret recording ‘extremely poor’
Defence barrister David Edwardson KC says Matt Wright “emphatically denies” the motive suggested by the prosecution for the alleged cover-up — that he was trying to avoid scrutiny of the crashed helicopter.
He says there is “no contest” that Mr Wright presented the original maintenance release (MR) form logging the aircraft’s flight hours to ATSB (Australian Transport Safety Bureau) investigators.
He said the original MR was photographed by ATSB investigators at the time and Mr Wright’s wife, Kaia Wright, also uploaded a scanned copy to NT Police.
“So on two separate occasions, one physically present and secondly, uploading what is said and accepted to be the original MR for IDW,” he said.
Mr Edwardson said Mr Wright’s third charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice was “based entirely on the prosecution’s interpretation or construction of recorded conversations in the early hours of the morning”.
“It will be for you to assess this recording when played, for that is the evidence that underpins that count,” he said.
“As my learned friend has just properly agreed, the recording, as you will hear, is extremely poor.”
8h agoThu 7 Aug 2025 at 2:08amPilot’s credibility ‘seriously in issue’
Defence barrister David Edwardson KC has told the jury his client Matt Wright “emphatically denies” the prosecution’s allegations and is entitled to the presumption of innocence.
“Members of the jury, by his pleas of not guilty to all three counts, Matt Wright denies that he did any such thing,” he said.
Mr Edwardson said the Crown relied on recordings made between six and nine months after the event, “in an attempt to make good the alleged” lie Mr Wright told police about the amount of fuel in the crashed helicopter’s tank.
He says conversations between Mr Wright and pilot Sebastian Robinson would also be in dispute.
“The credibility of Sebastian Robinson and his extended family is seriously in issue,” he said.
“Their [evidence] will be critical to your consideration of this count and will require you to conduct very, very close scrutiny of those witnesses.”
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