Jury visits site of Darwin bottle shop crime
The jury in the trial of the man charged with murdering a Darwin bottle shop worker has visited the scene of the alleged crime in person. The accused was also present, escorted by corrections officers as the jury was guided around the site in Darwin’s northern suburbs.
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00:00Keith Karanua has returned to the place he's accused of murdering 20-year-old bottle shop
00:07worker Declan Lavity for the first time since the stabbing incident in March 2023.
00:13This morning's proceedings looked very different to the last few days of evidence.
00:16The judge, jury and lawyers leaving the Supreme Court and driving to the scene of the alleged
00:21crime, the airport tavern BWS in Darwin's northern suburbs.
00:26The accused, Mr Karanua, who has been in custody for the last 15 months, was also present,
00:32escorted by corrections officers.
00:35Mr Karanua is pleading not guilty to murder after he fatally stabbed Mr Lavity inside
00:40the BWS roughly 15 months ago.
00:43The purpose of today's visit is to give the jury an opportunity to see where certain events
00:47took place.
00:49So far the jury has only seen the BWS through CCTV footage played to the court.
00:54Those cameras capturing various angles inside and outside the shop.
00:58Today they were able to see it in person although several modifications have been made since
01:03March last year to the layout of the store.
01:06More than a dozen witnesses have given evidence so far in the trial including eyewitnesses
01:10to the stabbing, the security guard who attempted to revive Mr Lavity, paramedics, forensic
01:15experts and the arresting officer.
01:18Statements provided to police by Mr Lavity's mum, Samara Lavity, have also been read aloud
01:23in court, revealing Ms Lavity knew her son carried his own knife to work and that she'd
01:28even encouraged him to take one for his own protection.
01:32The victim was found with two knives, including a folding knife and a box cutter, in the pockets
01:37of his jeans during crime scene examination.
01:40The court yesterday heard evidence from the manager of the airport tavern BWS at the time
01:44of the incident, who told the court employees were supplied with certain cutting implements
01:50but were not allowed to bring their own knives to work.
01:53Today marks day five of what's anticipated to be a 10-day trial.