THE jury deciding the fate of James Anthony Cunneen, who is accused of helping to dump the body of murdered mother Carly McBride in 2014, have begun deliberating over their verdict after nearly six weeks of evidence.
Mr Cunneen, who was 23 at the time, is accused of helping to dump Ms McBride's body in remote bush land outside Scone, and later providing a false alibi for the man accused of her murder, Sayle Kenneth Newson.
The case against Mr Cunneen, who has pleaded not guilty to being an accessory after the fact of murder, is that he was Mr Newson's "one and only friend in Muswellbrook" and that he stood by Mr Newson who allegedly told him he had murdered Ms McBride.
Ms McBride, a mother-of-two, was last seen leaving her ex-partner's house at Muswellbrook about 2pm on September 30, 2014. Her skeletal remains were found in remote bush land at Owens Gap, on the outskirts of Scone, nearly two years later.
During the trial, which started on May 11, crown prosecutor Adrian Robertson told the jury that Mr Newson killed Ms McBride with a number of blows to her head and her back after flying into a jealous rage because she had spent time with an ex-partner.
Together with Mr Cunneen, the pair devised a plan to dispose of Ms McBride's body, create a false alibi for Mr Newson telling police he and Newson were together between 2pm and 5pm that day, and pointing the finger at Ms McBride's ex-partner, the crown alleged.
The evidence put forward included a text message which the crown says Mr Cunneen sent to a friend in April 2015.
"I lost out big time," the text reads. "I gave everything I had to help someone to get out of a bad situation. He's a good mate but that's not why I did it. I did it because if the tables were turned I know that he would be the only person that I know that would do it for someone else in his position. It's hard to find genuine straight up people anymore around here."
District Court Judge Phillip Mahony told the jury on Tuesday the text message was only relevant if they decided that Mr Cunneen did in fact write it, and that he was admitting to some of what the crown alleges against him.
In Mr Cunneen's defence, barrister Robert Cavanagh said the text message had nothing to do with Ms McBride and was to do with money.
In summing up, Judge Mahony said the defence case was that the crown had not proved that Mr Newson killed Ms McBride, in which case Mr Cunneen could not be convicted of being an accessory after the fact of murder, or the alternative charge of accessory after the fact of manslaughter.
He said the defence case was that there was no forensic evidence to suggest Ms McBride had been in Mr Newson's car after her death, or that, if she had been, there was no evidence to suggest Mr Cunneen knew about it. The trial continues.
