A jury has been told that a guy who overdosed on heroin and died in the mother of NRL player Nicho Hynes was still “gurgling” just before paramedics arrived.
Luke Murphy, 29, died after allegedly inhaling drugs at Julie Hynes’ granny apartment on the NSW Central Coast while using a hydraulic press to produce heroin bricks.
Hynes, 50, is on trial at Gosford District Court for knowingly participating in the supply of a controlled substance, to which she has entered a not guilty plea.
The other resident of the home when Mr. Murphy unintentionally overdosed, Michael William Selvage, 59, has pleaded not guilty to the same crime.
After making his debut in 2019 for Melbourne Storm, Hynes’ 26-year-old son Nicho plays halfback for the Cronulla Sharks and won the Dally M medal the previous year.
Crime scene photos reveal NRL memorabilia on the walls of his mother’s house, including a Storm banner and a picture of the Nicho.
On May 25, 2021, at 12:46 p.m., Hynes contacted her friend Gregory Flanders from her Blackwall home, pleading for assistance, the court heard on Thursday.
Mr. Flanders, who had known Hynes for eight to ten months at the time, answered the phone while eating lunch with his wife at the neighboring Woy Woy.
The court heard Mr. Flanders say, “I believe Julie asked me where I was and that she needed a help.”
That she need my strength.
She said, “Oh all fine, I’ll work something else up,” to my statement that “Well, myself and my wife are at lunch, I can’t do anything at the time.”
“That was Julie, she looked really concerned, I don’t know what’s going on there,” I remarked as I turned to face my wife.
Mr. Flanders said that after finishing lunch, he and his wife headed over to Hynes’ house to check whether she still needed assistance.
According to Mr. Flanders, Hynes was “frantic, frightened, or worried” when they arrived.
As he entered the room, he saw someone on the couch. He didn’t seem too flashy.
He was recumbent and seemed to have vomited on his chest. He was still gasping for oxygen, kind of gurgling.
Mr. Flanders said in a statement heard in court that he asked Hynes, “What happened here?” she said, “I don’t know,” in response.
Has he had anything, Mr. Flanders?
“I don’t know what he’s had, but he was on a bender,” said Hynes.
Mr. Flanders, who gave Mr. Murphy CPR, said that he instructed Hynes to dial Triple Zero, which she did at 1:19 p.m. Mr. Murphy was declared deceased at 1.55 p.m. after paramedics arrived at the scene at 1.34 p.m.
On Thursday afternoon, the seven women and five men on the panel listened to a recording of Selvage’s police interrogation.
He gave an explanation for why he had visited Hynes’ house and denied any involvement in the heroin supply.
He told the cops, “Julie called me to come over and have a r**t.” “I went there to have sex with Julie,” the speaker said.
The elderly man said that he decided against having sex with Hynes that evening. He said to investigators, “I don’t know why.” That’s what I assumed she wanted.
Two days following Mr. Murphy’s death, Selvage was taken into custody at his mother’s Umina Beach residence.
Hynes, a mother of two, had known Mr. Murphy since he was in elementary school and had known him for nearly 20 years.
She had reportedly panicked when she discovered him unconscious in the living area of her Blackwall, two-bedroom home.
The Crown claims that Mr. Murphy had been pressing heroin blocks in Hynes’s restroom earlier when he unintentionally inhaled the narcotic via his lips and nose.
Hynes and Selvage are not charged with any crimes in connection with Mr. Murphy’s death.
According to Crown Attorney Peter Lowe, Hynes contacted Selvage at 2:26 a.m. on May 25 and asked him to assist Mr. Murphy with pressing heroin in her bathroom.
He said that based on phone records, Mr. Murphy had also been in touch with Selvage and asked him to bring up mechanical components for a hydraulic press that he was using to package the heroin.
A forensic expert has provided evidence that fingerprints from both Selvage and Hynes were discovered on the 250kg press in her bathroom, supporting the Crown’s claim that they were engaged in processing the heroin for sale.
It is said that before being compressed, the heroin was mixed with glucose to reduce its purity and increase its weight.
According to Mr. Lowe, Hynes made a number of calls beginning at about 12.30 p.m., including calls to her eldest son Wade and Mr. Flanders.
Mr. Murphy was lying on the floor unconscious when the paramedics came. White powder covered his denim shorts, and he was shirtless.
Hynes said Mr. Murphy had come in a “dazed” condition between 7 and 7.30 am when she talked to Hynes outside her house, according to Constable Zachary Jones, who testified in court.
Hynes said that after purchasing a “large breakfast” for Mr. Murphy from a nearby café, she returned to bed while he was still on the sofa at about 9 or 10 a.m.
Mr. Murphy was still asleep on the sofa with his eyes partially closed when she woke up at 12:50 pm. Lukey, Lukey! she yelled, but she received no answer.
Mr. Murphy seemed to be sleeping and had dribbling dripping from his lips.
Hynes informed Constable Jones, “I woke up and saw him like that.” “I simply began to freak out.”
Hynes allegedly stayed up all night working on drug packaging, according to the Crown.
The hydraulic press was discovered by police who responded to the location, along with 180.8 grams of heroin, of which 173.4 grams were found in a purple dustpan in a guest room and 7.4 grams on the bathroom floor.
According to Mr. Lowe, the Crown’s argument was that Hynes, Mr. Murphy, and Selvage were using Hynes’ home to cut and package heroin bricks for sale.
He informed the jurors, “The circumstances speak for themselves.”
There was also reportedly found other purported drug-related paraphernalia within the residence, such as brick-wrapping gaffer tape and heat-seal bags.
Nearly an hour after Mr. Murphy’s death was confirmed, at 2.44 p.m., police discovered Selvage napping in the master bedroom.
Selvage, who was accused of having powder on his clothes, admitted to authorities that at first he had no idea what Mr. Murphy was doing with the press but that he subsequently discovered it included heroin.
He reportedly said that Mr. Murphy had 11 “keys” weighing roughly 360 grams each of the narcotic. Those bricks have never been located.
In a video given to the jury, Selvage said, “I’m talking about blocks approximately that size,” while putting his hands around 25 cm apart.
The judge David Wilson trial is still going on.
»After heroin overdose, Julie Hynes phoned buddy«