- In short: A 2009 police interview played to a Supreme Court in Launceston has raised doubts about the accused whereabouts on the night of the murder
- What's next? The trial, which has been underway since late April, will continue this week
A man accused of murder told Tasmania Police his wife suggested they lie about their whereabouts on the night of the murder because it would be better if they were at home.
Swansea couple, Noelene and Cedric Jordan are both on trial for the murder of 36-year-old Shane Barker.
They have both pleaded not guilty.
It is the Crown's case Mr Barker was shot three times in the back and once in the chest outside his Campbell Town house on August 2, 2009.
Noelene Jordan initially told police in an interview after Mr Barker's murder she was at home with her husband in Swansea at the time of the death.
But she changed her story when police said they had evidence her phone had 'pinged' at towers in Launceston.
Ms Jordan later told detectives the couple did in fact drive to Launceston to go to KFC for dinner but did not stop in Campbell Town.
Ms Jordan said they were "too scared" to tell police.
In court on Tuesday, the jury was played a police interview between Cedric Jordan and two detectives, conducted about three months after Mr Barker was killed.
In the interview the police officers questioned the couple's movements on the night of the murder.
"You didn't go to KFC that night," one of the officers states. "You didn't go into the store. Hours and hours of footage has been watched by numerous people and you did not enter KFC at Kings Meadows.
"Would you like to disclose where you were that night?"
Mr Jordan replies and says they had been at KFC.
"I put it to you that you are responsible for the death of Shane Geoffrey Barker," the detective says.
"Definitely not," Mr Jordan replies.
"You shot Shane Geoffrey Barker," the police officer says.
'No," Mr Jordan replies.
The jury also heard the Swansea man tell police that it was his wife's idea to initially lie about where they were on the night of the murder in a statutory declaration.
He said that his wife "talked him into it" and told him "it would be better if we said we were at home."
The jury heard the couple concocted the plan at home in the days before Mr Barker's funeral.
"If we said we were at home, we thought we wouldn't be hassled," Mr Jordan told officers.
