Man accused of aiding murder plan found not guilty
Accused of helping a work colleague kill his estranged wife, Bradley Bell is now a free man after being acquitted by a jury.
The 29-year-old emerged from more than three years in custody, walking out of the Brisbane Supreme Court after being found not guilty of murder on Friday.
He was also found not guilty of an alternative charge of manslaughter.
Mr Bell had been accused of murdering Kelly Wilkinson by aiding her estranged husband Brian Earl Johnston in April 2021.
The jury heard Mr Bell had driven his work colleague, Johnston, to Ms Wilkinson's Gold Coast home in the early hours of the morning after buying a 20-litre can of petrol together.
Johnston stabbed Ms Wilkinson, a 27-year-old mother of three, multiple times in the neck and chest before setting her alight at the home.
Mr Bell - who had pleaded not guilty to murder - showed little emotion after the verdict.
Asked what he would do on his first day of freedom, Mr Bell told reporters outside court: "Not sure".
Mr Bell was then asked if he had anything to say to Ms Wilkinson's family.
"No comment," he said as he strode away from the media pack.
Ms Wilkinson's family spoke briefly outside court.
"Bradley Bell has proven to be a free man ... I am honestly lost for words," Ms Wilkinson's sister Danielle Carroll said.
"Once again the system has failed Kelly."
Crown prosecutor David Nardone had told the jury Mr Bell had been staying at a campsite with Johnston when he was woken at 3am and asked to be driven to Ms Wilkinson's home.
He said security cameras had captured Mr Bell driving Johnston near Ms Wilkinson's home at 3.27am.
Johnston had taken a bag of tools, drugs and zip ties along with a fuel can, the jury heard.
The jury was shown CCTV footage of Mr Bell driving Johnston to a service station just after 3am on the day Ms Wilkinson was killed and removing a jerry can from the boot before filling it with petrol.
Mr Bell paid for fuel, also buying an iced tea and energy drink with cash from Johnston, who stayed inside the vehicle.
In a July 2021 police interview shown to the jury, Mr Bell told detectives it "sounds bad" he did know at the time why Johnston wanted the petrol, but he never thought his colleague would go through with his plan to kill Ms Wilkinson.
Mr Bell and Johnston had worked together as marine engineers.
In the police video interview Mr Bell said he "played along" with his boss Johnston's plan to tie up and set his wife on fire because he needed the job.
He said he accepted an offer of $1000 from Johnston to drive him around and now felt "taken advantage of".
"Mr Bell told the jury he had smoked cannabis before the interview and it had affected his thinking, leading to him lie about his knowledge of Johnston's plans in an attempt to help police.
Johnston also gave evidence and told the jury he had not told Mr Bell of his plans.
Defence barrister Edwin Whitton told the jury Mr Bell would testify in his own defence that he had lied to police during the 80-minute interview in July 2021.
"He lied because he realised he had become involved in something terrible and he was scared," he said.
The jury took less than six hours to find Mr Bell not guilty.
The trial before Justice Michael Copley began on Monday.
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