Jury to hear talk of murder before a body was found: trial

During the Crown's opening address in Bathurst Supreme Court on May 27, 2024, a jury was told they would hear evidence from a woman with previous ties to Stephen Shane Greenfield, who is accused of murdering Reginald Mullaly.

Greenfield has pleaded not guilty to the murder, which allegedly took place in Bathurst between September 16 and 21 in 2015.

Mr Mullaly was found dead under the Denison Bridge by two walkers at about 10am on September 20, 2015.

It was later discovered that he was stabbed nine times, with the fatal blow to his heart.

Crown prosecutor Giles Tabuteau said in his opening address that as part of their case, the prosecution would be relying on evidence from two people who had conversations with Greenfield the day before Mr Mullaly's body was found.

"[This witness] says that on one occasion before the Sunday, the accused [allegedly] said 'there's going to be an old man found stabbed to death under the bridge'. She'll tell you there was a similar conversation at another home where the accused [allegedly] said 'he got stabbed 13 times'," Mr Tabuteau said.

Mr Tabuteau mentioned another witness, who alleges Greenfield went to her South Bathurst home about 2.30pm on September 20, 2015 claiming he had killed someone.

According to the Crown, the woman will say that she allegedly let Greenfield inside her home so he could wash his clothes, a "Rambo knife" and bolt cutters with bleach after claiming to go "Tony Mokbel" on a man under the bridge.

"She will tell you he [allegedly] said 'you don't need to know more, I need to clean myself'. She saw spots of blood on both of his arms," Mr Tabuteau said.

"She will say Mr Greenfield [allegedly] said 'he put me down, he looked at me sideways ... I bashed him, I rit on him'.

"He then [allegedly] tells her to look at Crime Stoppers on Facebook, where there was a post about a body being found under the bridge. Mr Greenfield [allegedly] said 'I told you, he's dead'."

While giving evidence, the woman is anticipated to also mention she made an anonymous report to Crime Stoppers after Greenfield is accused of threatening to "put [her] under the bridge like what happened to the bloke".

"In this report, it says 'I heard that Stephen Greenfield is responsible for killing the man found dead under the Denison Bridge. Apparently the victim said the wrong thing to Stephen ... I heard he had blood on him and scrubbed himself down with bleach," Mr Tabuteau said.

The jury was also told that after speaking with police on September 22, the woman made two phone calls to Greenfield from Bathurst Police Station, which will be played to the court.

In these calls, Greenfield is believed to have said he thought he was being "framed" for murder.

"In a sense, the crown relies on the effective acknowledgement of Mr Greenfield that he went to a home in Currawong Street. Secondly, he spoke to [the woman]. Thirdly, he said he had hurt someone. And, there's an admission that he [allegedly] threatened her with doing the same thing as what happened to the bloke under the bridge," Mr Tabuteau said.

With the defence, led by barrister Ian Nash, yet to address the jury, the matter was adjourned by Justice Richard Cavanagh to 10am on May 28, 2024.