It was dusk in Darwin's city centre when the first shots rang out.
A car backfiring?
Early Territory Day fireworks?
But the horrors that unfolded at sunset on June 4, 2019, were far worse than anyone could have imagined.
As the third anniversary approaches, no-one knows how long Benjamin Hoffmann will spend in prison for his terrifying crimes.
Hoffmann, wearing a hi-vis shirt and high on methamphetamine, forced his way into rooms at the Palms Motel, firing a shot gun and calling out for a man named "Alex".
It was there, around 5:40pm, he murdered Hassan Baydoun, a 33-year-old taxi driver on a break from work.
A young woman was also shot in the legs, her partner later recounting to the Northern Territory Supreme Court the terrifying moment he pleaded with the gunman to spare their lives.
He did.
Hoffmann then got back into a white ute he had borrowed from a friend and moved on to his next victim.
At a quiet apartment block in the inner-city suburb of The Gardens, Hoffmann shot and killed 75-year-old Nigel Hellings.
Further up the road at the Buff Club, 57-year-old Michael Sisois, a colleague and friend of Hoffmann's, was murdered in the car park.
Police were hot on his tail at this point, but still, Hoffmann managed to get out of the CBD and take another life — that of 52-year-old Robert Courtney — before apparently attempting to turn himself in.
At the NT Police headquarters, 15 kilometres out of the CBD, a bloodied and injured Hoffmann is caught on CCTV gripping a shotgun and attempting to force his way through the front doors of the closed police station.
Unsuccessful, he got back into the ute and began driving back towards the CBD, calling triple-0 himself, declaring he needed "help".
On the other end of the phone line, veteran police officer Lee Morgan tried desperately to convince the gunman to pull over.
Hoffmann made it back to where the shooting began, opposite the Palms Motel at one of the busiest intersections in Darwin city, before general duties Constable Michael Kent coaxed him out of the car.
"I will guard you with my life," Constable Kent told the gunman, who was terrified police would instead shoot him.
Tactical police immediately pounced, tasering the battered and bloodied killer to the ground in the middle of the road.
But for the families of Hoffmann's victims and for the city of Darwin, the chaos had only just begun.
Three years later, still no sentence
After his arrest and some time in hospital, Hoffmann appeared in court for the first time within days of the rampage.
"I'm very sorry about what's happened," he said from a video link room at the Darwin prison.
Almost three years later, Hoffmann continues to speak out in court, despite his lawyer's best efforts to keep him quiet.
He regularly makes dramatic claims of corruption and coercion, giving handwritten letters to the Supreme Court judge presiding over his case.
Several weeks into what was supposed to be a nine-week murder trial, which forced victims and their families to relive the trauma of his terrifying crimes, Hoffmann changed his mind and admitted fault.
He pleaded guilty to the murders of Mr Baydoun, Mr Sisois and Mr Courtney, the manslaughter of Mr Hellings and a handful of lesser, albeit serious, crimes committed during his rampage.
But despite entering a plea more than six months ago and the third anniversary of the shooting spree approaching, those forever impacted by Hoffmann's crimes are still waiting to find out how long he will spend in prison.
Efforts to sentence Hoffmann have been slowed by the killer himself, with him firing and re-hiring a series of publicly funded lawyers.
Legal representation is a fundamental right afforded to every Australian, regardless of their crime, according to Chrissy McConnel, president of the NT Criminal Lawyer's Association.
“Everybody is entitled to apply for Legal Aid … Access to justice is absolutely essential to uphold the rule of fairness and equality before the law,” Ms McConnel said.
The sentencing process finally got underway on Friday, with the first in a series of medical experts called to give evidence about the killer's state of mind.
Hoffmann and his lawyers, who are working for free after his Legal Aid funding was cut, have suggested he was experiencing delusions, paranoia and drug-induced psychosis at the time of the shooting and his sentence should reflect that.
Prosecutors have suggested he was high on drugs but fully aware that his actions were wrong, which should not alter his moral culpability.
Outside of the Supreme Court, the case may appear clear cut, but inside, Hoffmann has weaved a complicated web of claims, which under Australia's law deserve to be heard.
"Access to justice is a fundamental right of all people, so it's very important that the court enable processes to run their course and for all avenues to be explored for an accused person to … present all relevant evidence in order for a fair assessment of their matter," Ms McConnel said.
"Nobody wants to see any errors being made in a legal process, and by ensuring that all processes are followed in the first instance, then that reduces risk of errors being made which could lead to an appeal, which of course protracts matters even longer."
Another day of evidence from medical witnesses will be heard on July 25 before final submissions from Hoffmann's lawyers and Crown prosecutors are made.
While Hoffmann is one step closer to knowing his fate, exactly when his victims and their families will be able to close this chapter in their lives is still unknown.
