A Victorian jury has been heard that one of three men accused of torturing and then murdering a man they thought to be a pedophile produced rap lyrics about murder.
Jordan Bottom penned after the 2018 homicide, in lyrics delivered to a Supreme Court jury on Friday, “I’ve got murder on my mind, see blood in my sight, murder in my mind, somebody’s dying tonight.”
Bottom, Rikki Smith, and Albert Thorn are accused of taking Bradley Lyons, 30, to a shallow grave and shooting him to death after abusing and confining him for hours in a shoebox.
The court heard that it was done under the belief that Mr. Lyons had sexually assaulted and impregnated two of his stepdaughters.
All three defendants have pled not guilty to murder charges.
Four males attacked Mr. Lyons while he slept in his bed at his Lakes Entrance home in eastern Victoria on December 2, 2018 after he had completed his workday.
Prosecutor Raymond Gibson QC told the court that the men, including Smith and Thorn, assaulted Mr. Lyons until he bled before tying him up and placing him in the trunk of a car.
He was transported to Thorn’s rural property and left in the trunk for several hours as a number of individuals, including Thorn, Smith, and Bottom, deliberated their next move from a decommissioned water tank.
Mr. Gibson claimed that they wanted him to admit to sexually assaulting minors.
Later that night, Mr. Lyons was removed from the trunk, bound to a massage table, and subjected to Deep Heat and kettle water torture.
Mr. Gibson stated that Thorn, Bottom, and Smith placed him back in the trunk and drove him to the Double Bridges wilderness.
He claimed Thorn shot Mr. Lyons in the leg and head, with Smith and Bottom assisting in the burial.
According to him, Bottom initially admitted to murdering Mr. Lyons and then led authorities to the victim’s remains in March 2019. After burying them, he told the police that Thorn had fired the shots.
Mr. Gibson told the court, “Whoever ultimately shot Lyons is irrelevant because all three were involved, all three were complicit.”
Two weeks following his detention, the police were provided with diaries in which Bottom acknowledged to writing rap songs.
“Forever silent, you cannot purchase loyalty. I will do whatever it takes, even die for the squad. When I dream, I only see death, according to a rap penned on December 25, 2018 and performed by Mr. Gibson. Bottom has pleaded not guilty to illegal incarceration, assault, and murder.
His attorney, David Cronin, stated that Bottom did not intend to kill Mr. Lyons. He admits traveling to Double Bridges with Thorn and Smith in a car, but he did not pull the trigger.
Thorn has pled guilty to false and wrongful confinement as well as causing injury on purpose, although he has denied assault and murder.
“He was not in the vehicle that transported Lyons to his final resting place, nor was he present when Lyons was murdered,” his attorney James Anderson stated.
He stated that Thorn wanted Mr. Lyons to be released alive and learned of the murder on December 3 from Bottom.
Smith has admitted to causing a grievous injury on purpose, but he has pleaded not guilty to unlawful confinement, assault, and murder.
His attorney, John Saunders, stated that despite his participation in the assault in Mr. Lyons’ bedroom, he is not guilty of murder.
The proceeding continues.