Demolition derby in carpark, murder trial told
A man who was staying at a Rivervale motel the night a businessman was found in a car boot has told a murder trial how he was woken by a "demolition derby" in the carpark.
Brothers Ambrose Clarke and Xavier Clarke are on trial in the Supreme Court fighting allegations they murdered Peter Davis whose body was found wrapped in plastic in the boot of his car outside the Great Eastern Motor Lodge in May 2011.
Bronston Haenow told the trial today that he and his wife Taylor were staying at the motel on the night of May 31, 2011 when he was woken shortly after midnight by a "big banging noise" outside.
He said he looked out of the window and saw two four-wheel-drive vehicles "smashing into each other" in the rear carpark of the motel.
"It was like a demolition derby," he told the court.
Mr Haenow said there was a silver vehicle and a blue car and one of the vehicles looked like it was trying to stop the other from getting out of the carpark.
He said the incident happened very quickly and both cars took off.
In a statement to police the following morning, Mr Haenow said he saw a male driver in the blue car and a male driver and a passenger in the silver car.
Mrs Haenow said she had been watching TV when she heard a loud "smashing" noise shortly after midnight, "like a truck emptying bottles into a bin".
She said she looked out of the window and saw two cars - a light or silver coloured one and a dark one - "chasing each other" and bashing into other vehicles in the carpark.
She testified she recalled seeing "two sets of legs" in the darker vehicle.
"After hitting a few cars, both of them, they ended up leaving," she said, Mr Davis' son Kurt testified earlier this week that Ambrose Clarke was a passenger in a blue Hilux which rammed his silver Tritan ute in the motel carpark.
He told the court that he and his girlfriend had been looking for his father and that he saw Ambrose Clarke with two other men on Toorak Road before he accidentally turned into the motel, where he spotted his father's car.
After the incident in the carpark, Kurt Davis called 000 and police discovered his father's body in the boot of his Pajero.
The trial has also heard evidence today and yesterday about the police search of Ambrose Clarke's house in Murdoch on May 31, 2011.
The court has heard police were looking for clothing items and personal items belonging to Mr Davis, such as a wallet, mobile phone and possibly car keys.
