Just before midnight on Boxing Day 2022, police allege, an intruder into a suburban Brisbane home held a serrated knife centimetres from the face of his accomplice, illuminated by the light of a mobile phone.
CCTV footage which purportedly captured this interaction could play a role in determining whether a second teenager is convicted of the murder of 41-year-old Emma Lovell, Queensland’s supreme court heard on Monday as the trial began.
Such was the high-profile nature of Lovell’s murder that, rather than appearing before a jury, the trial is a judge-only affair.
Lovell was allegedly stabbed to death on the lawn outside her North Lakes home, north of Brisbane, after midnight on 27 December 2022 during a home invasion allegedly carried out by two 17-year-old boys.
The trial of one of the teens is slated to run until Wednesday. He is facing four charges, including murder and assault occasioning bodily harm, and also cannot legally be named due to his age.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges on Monday.
Crown prosecutor David Nardone and defence barrister Laura Reece agreed that the issues up for debate at his trial were relatively narrow.
That the young man on trial this week entered the Lovell home with the other teenager is not in dispute.
Nor is the fact that the young man before court this week “carried out none of the violence” of that evening himself.
But Nardone argued that when the accused was shown that 11.5 centimetre-long blade in the moments after his companion had tested the front door of the Lovell home and found it unlocked, the nature of his offending became dramatically more serious.
“It is from that point in time, at least, that the crown will say that the common intention to steal has developed into a common intention to steal while armed with a knife,” Nardone said.
Nardone said a trail of CCTV footage from various properties showed the young men roaming the streets, apparently trying to enter homes and vehicles.
Among the cameras that captured their movements were the seven installed in the Lovell home.
One above the front door, the prosecutor said, captured the two teenagers peering into the door they had just opened. The door had a Christmas wreath on it.
The court heard from Lee Lovell and saw footage of him and his late wife grappling with the two home invaders as the four burst from the front door in a frantic melee. He is shirtless, she in her blue nightie.
Lee said he had woken to the sound of one of their two dogs, petitioned off in the back of the house, barking.
He said he bolted to the bedroom door and was confronted by one of the intruders.
“Immediately it was one male in the doorway, right in front of my face,” he said.
Lovell said he was trying to get the strangers out of the house and also to detain them until police arrived.
Lovell said he was dragged to the ground and repeatedly kicked in the head and stomach. He didn’t realise he had been stabbed until being treated by paramedics. Nor did he realise his wife had been stabbed until his daughter said she was bleeding.
“By the time I looked back at Emma, I believe she was sitting on the ground with knees up, with her head towards her knees.”
Other evidence tabled before the court on Monday included DNA evidence that placed the two teenagers at the Lovell property, items of clothing including the accused’s red cap that was found on the scene, the broken handle of the knife found at the nearby residence where the boys were staying and witness testimony of neighbours.
Reece said that audio recording captured by a nearby CCTV would also go to the “heart of the case” and could determine whether her client was guilty of murder or manslaughter.
She said that Justice Michael Copley KC might hear the words “I’ll kill you and I’ll kill you too” being said during the fracas, but that he also might hear the words: “nah bra” straight afterwards.
“Your honour might think that you also hear the words: ‘stop, stop, stop, stop, stop’.”
The trial continues.
-With additional reporting by AAP
