Hasan Dastan argued with his son before being brutally murdered in his Sydney mechanics business in December 1995, a jury has been told.
Giving evidence at Kubilay Kilincer's murder trial on Tuesday, a colleague in the automotive community said Mr Dastan and his son Eddie had occasional confrontations and arguments when they worked together at Esy Auto Dismantlers in Blacktown.
The witness, who owned a nearby mechanics and was friends with Mr Dastan, said the pair would fight in the usual father-son type working relationship.
He also told the jury that Mr Dastan had warned him not to lend money to Kilincer, who worked at Esy, after being approached for $50.
On Monday, crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield said Kilincer had financial difficulties and was pilfering from the cash register at his workplace to pay off his debts. The court also heard he had gambling problems.
Mr Dastan was about to sack Kilincer before he was found dead in a pool of blood partially underneath a Holden Gemini on Monday December 11, 1995.
A metal pipe was shoved six centimetres into his mouth, his injuries were consistent with a bloodied sledgehammer that lay nearby, and a bloodstained revenge note with a partial footprint was found close to the body, the NSW Supreme Court jury heard.
Kilincer confessed to police that he had murdered his boss, Mr Hatfield said.
Kilincer allegedly claimed he went berserk, hitting Mr Dastan three times with a metal bar, throwing an automotive part called a centre differential at him, and throwing a second metal bar at his boss that may have lodged in his mouth.
However, defence barrister Ertunc Ozen SC said the so-called admission was a lie made under pressure and that it did not align with the actual evidence collected on the day of Mr Dastan's death.
Kilincer, now 60, expressed his innocence for decades and has now pleaded not guilty to the murder.
Despite being a suspect, forensic examination of DNA and fingerprints at the crime scene failed to connect him with the killing. Freshly washed clothing and shoes seized from his home on the day Mr Dastan's body was found also did not contain any traces of blood.
His blue ute was seen driving at speed away from Esy Auto Dismantlers soon after the killing, the jury heard.
However, Kilincer claims he was at Centrelink's predecessor, the Commonwealth Employment Service, following up with a non-payment at the time.
The eight-week trial in front of Justice Helen Wilson continues.
