Convicted killer Bandali Debs has told a murder trial he was referring to himself and Jason Roberts when he used the words “us” and “we” in a detailed account he gave a family member about the night two police officers were shot dead.
The Supreme Court heard on Wednesday that 18 months after Sergeant Gary Silk and Senior Constable Rodney Miller were fatally shot in Moorabbin after midnight on August 16, 1998, Debs discussed the shooting with the man he considered his father figure, Malik Debs.
Sergeant Gary Silk (left) and Senior Constable Rodney Miller.
In a recording of the conversation captured by a police listening device on February 15, 2000, Debs used the words “us”, “we” and “him” when explaining what happened in Cochranes Road, Moorabbin, to Malik.
Debs, in a second day of giving evidence via a video link from the Goulburn Correctional Complex in NSW, told a trial on Wednesday those words referred to himself and Roberts.
Bandali Debs in 2002.Credit:Simon Schluter
Roberts, 41, argues he was not in Moorabbin when the shootings happened and has pleaded not guilty to two charges of murder. Justice Stephen Kaye has told the jury Debs and Roberts were convicted of the murders in 2002, but the Court of Appeal had granted Roberts a retrial.
Debs, now 68, said on Tuesday he was driving daughter Nicole’s blue Hyundai Excel, with Roberts in the passenger seat, when they were pulled over by Silk and Miller. Roberts was 17 and Nicole Debs’ boyfriend at the time.
Debs has told the court he shot and hit Miller, and he heard the shots that killed Silk but didn’t see Roberts fire, as the pair were away from the Hyundai. Silk died at the scene and Miller died in hospital.
Debs has said he and Roberts were armed with .357 revolvers when they drove to the Silky Emperor Chinese restaurant, which they considered a potential hold-up target.
Roberts has pleaded guilty to 10 counts of armed robbery and admits he and Debs committed hold-ups on 10 small businesses between March and July 1998. Silk and Miller were on a stakeout outside the Silky Emperor and followed the Hyundai from the restaurant car park and intercepted it in Cochranes Road.
According to the audio recording of the February 15, 2000, conversation, Debs told Malik Debs, “Oh no, he wasn’t beside the car, he was right away from the car…”
Jason Roberts (right) outside the Supreme Court this year.Credit:Jason South
Asked on Wednesday by prosecutor Ben Ihle, QC, who “he” referred to, Debs replied, “I’m talking about Jason … Jason Roberts.”
In the recording, Debs told Malik, “As soon as we drove in the car park they came behind. I told him…”
Asked by Ihle who he meant by “we”, Debs replied, “The passenger on the side, Jason Roberts.” He said the word “him” also referred to Roberts.
In the 2000 recording, Debs told Malik: “Those were the ones that were sitting there when we drove in just quickly to look. They seen [sic] us, so they drove behind us and drove down the street to stop us. They stopped, then it’s not good.”
Debs told Ihle he was referring to himself and Roberts when he used the words “we” and “us”.
Debs told Malik in the recording, “We heard it on this, we heard it on that.”
The word “we”, Debs told Ihle on Wednesday, referred to he and Roberts listening to a police scanner after the shootings.
He has said that after the shootings, he and Roberts got in the Hyundai and drove away.
The trial continues.
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