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By HARRY CLARKE
A CATTLE farmer accused of killing three neighbours at the front gate of his remote North Queensland property allegedly declared he would “end this once and for all” before fetching a rifle from his ute and gunning them down in a close range, execution style killing.
New details in the case against accused triple murderer Darryl Valroy Young were heard yesterday in the Bowen Magistrates Court, more than 18 months after the 61-year-old allegedly killed his neighbours Merv and Maree Schwarz and Maree’s son, Graham Tighe.
The shooting occurred about 8am on August 4, 2022, after Mr Young allegedly called his neighbours for a meeting at the entrance to his property, Shannonvale, to resolve an ongoing, bitter dispute over a boundary fence line and accusations of cattle duffing.
Mr Young is also charged with the attempted murder of Ms Schwarz’s second son, Ross Tighe, who suffered a gunshot wound but managed to escape and raise the alarm before being airlifted to Mackay Hospital.
The court heard Ross Tighe still has a bullet lodged in his abdomen and suffers severe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from seeing his mother, brother and stepfather gunned down at the boundary of their property.
“The prosecution brief clearly makes out that this meeting was, in effect, a meeting at the front gate of Mr Young’s property to sort out some rather significant differences that had arisen,” defence barrister Douglas Wilson said.
“It wasn’t a meeting that any of the parties would have expected, on the police or Crown material, to be one of a normal chat with a neighbour over the fence. It was a dispute that was to be sorted out.”
The court heard Mr Young was initially met at the Shannovale front gate about 7.30am by two engineering contractors, who’d arrived to resume carrying out surveying work for a prospective wind farm project in the area.
Graham and Ross Tighe arrived in one vehicle about 7.45am and Merv and Maree Schwarz arrived in a separate vehicle about 7.55am.
“It is alleged that there was some discussion between the parties and at the conclusion of the discussion it is alleged the defendant says ‘I will end this once and for all’,” police prosecutor Sgt Emma Myors told the court.
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“It is alleged the defendant then retrieved a firearm from his vehicle and continued to shoot and kill victims Mervyn Shwarz, Maree Schwarz and Graham Tighe, and injure witness Ross Tighe in the abdominal region.
“It is alleged that five rounds were fired. It is alleged that none of the victims had a firearm with them. Witness Ross Tighe, who was injured, initially hid and then fled in the vehicle he attended the location in”.
Sgt Myors said Ross Tighe was met by a contract cattle musterer who was working for the Tighe-Schwarz family at the time on their property, which is named Sutherland.
She said the police were made aware of the shooting about 9am and that Mr Young was arrested on Shannonvale about 5pm.
“Police conducted a search of the property and the firearm that was used in the shooting was not recovered,” she said.
“Police located four fire cartridge cases at the scene in the immediate vicinity of deceased victims.
“Later, during police searches, police located one spent cartridge in the defendant’s dwelling. In the same search police also located a partial packet of unspent ammunition in the defendant’s car.
“The four fire cartridges that were located at the scene have been ballistically matched to the one spent cartridge located in the defendant’s dwelling, which had been fired from the same gun.”
Mr Young’s lawyers are making an application to cross examine Ross Tighe, the sole survivor and only eye witness to the shooting, when the case reaches a Magistrates Court committal hearing.
Defence barrister Douglas Wilson said the cross examination would relate to “the state of the relationship between the parties, particularly the accused, the deceased persons and Mr Ross Tighe before and on the day of the alleged incident occurring.”
“We’re seeking to obtain a higher degree of specificity … on the conversations and actions of the accused, the deceased persons and Mr Ross Tighe immediately before and during the incident,” Mr Wilson said.
“Mr Ross Tighe is an essential witness in this case. He is an eye witness to a very, very significant set of charges and there are very significant consequences for Mr Young if he is convicted.
“He is in the position to be able to give evidence in relation to the background or relationship between the parties and the disputes that existed at the time of the alleged commission of these offences.
“If I could be so bold as to say he is the principal prosecution witness and he is certainly the only eye witness that the prosecution has.”
Police prosecutor Sgt Emma Myors said it would be an unnecessary “fishing expedition” for the defence to cross examine Ross Tighe because the three statements he’d provided to police on the day of the shooting, the day after the shooting and a month after the shooting were “entirely consistent”.
“His version is also corroborated by the physical evidence found at the scene, that being the location of the spent casings, the location of his hat, the location of each body of his deceased family members and the location of the vehicles that were used to travel to the incident location,” she said.
“This information has been sought and covered in detail and it has remained consistent in each account given by this witness.
“To then have the victim cross examined in relation to these matters on information that has already been given it can only be described as a dress rehearsal (for Mr Young’s trial).
“This is a fishing expedition just to illicit some information that may or may not be useful to them (the defence) and in my submission is that is not a substantial ground in the interests of justice.”
Sgt Myors said cross examination would likely trigger Ross Tighe, who has been diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder.
“This is a man who witnessed the alleged mass murder of his mother, his step father and his brother and he has a permanent physical reminder of this incident on the day.
“There is a bullet that remains lodged in his body that cannot be removed.
“I have two doctors that can attest to this victim’s diagnosis of severe post traumatic stress disorder as a result of this incident, which would be seriously aggravated if he is required to be cross examined.”
Barrister Douglas Wilson said if the application was successful, the defence would agree to cross examine Mr Tighe in a closed court, in the absence of Darryl Young.
The court has reserved its decision on the application until Friday, April 12.