A FORMER bikie who drove a hitman to Stockton on the night he killed Stacey Klimovitch has been found not guilty of murder, with a jury finding he was not part of the plan to murder the 61-year-old grandmother.
But Stephen John Garland, a former Nomads bikie gang national office-bearer, is now a convicted killer after the jury on Wednesday found him guilty of manslaughter over the death of Mrs Klimovitch.
Garland, now 65, had pleaded not guilty to murder and accessory after the fact to murder and had spent the last five weeks on trial in Newcastle Supreme Court.
Mrs Klimovitch was the victim of a "targeted" and "premeditated" killing and was shot once in the chest at close range with a shotgun when she answered the front door to her home in Queen Street about 8pm on June 9, 2021.
Garland's case was that he was a "patsy" and had been "set up" and "duped" into unknowingly participating in the 61-year-old's murder.
He told police in a number of interviews that he was "coaxed" into driving the gunman to and from Stockton on the night of the shooting by the mastermind, Stuart Campbell, who repeatedly asked him to repay a favour.
The jury had heard that the murder stemmed from ongoing animosity between Mrs Klimovitch and Mr Campbell, the ex-partner of Mrs Klimovitch's daughter, which had reached boiling point when Mrs Klimovitch slapped Mr Campbell at a house at Argenton.
The prosecution case was that Mr Campbell had the motive and arranged the murder, recruiting the gunman to pull the trigger and Garland to drive him to and from Stockton.
Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield, SC, said the three men were engaged in a joint criminal enterprise to murder Mrs Klimovitch and, while he didn't pull the trigger, Garland knew his role was the driver.
Mr Campbell was charged with murder but died before facing trial.
Garland's knowledge of what was going to happen that night was the crucial issue during the trial and in the aftermath he seemed to tell almost everyone that he was "shocked" about what happened and had no idea who Mrs Klimovitch was or that she was going to be killed.
"I didn't do anything, I didn't know about it, I wasn't part of the planning, I wasn't part of nothing," Garland told detectives, who had come to his house at Waratah to seize his car in November, 2021. "If people who were involved say I was involved they are f---ing liars."
Garland told police the mastermind, Stuart Campbell, had asked him to drop his mate at Stockton "as a favour".
Garland said he did not want to, and instead wanted to watch the opening game of the 2021 State of Origin series, but Mr Campbell said he owed him because he had helped Garland out with rental accommodation.
Garland told investigators he had driven Mr Campbell's mate to Stockton, dropped him in a street, waited and then driven him to Edgeworth.
Garland said he was "shocked" when he found out the next day that Ms Klimovitch had been shot dead.
"Absolutely f---ing shocked," Garland said to investigators during a conversation that was picked up on a listening device. "That he would do that, ask someone to do that. "I did not f---ing know that was happening. I wasn't part of any f---ing plans. Had I have known I would have told them to get f---ed. "I wouldn't have done that, especially a lady, a grandmother. I did this f---er a favour and he did that to me."
The jury, through their verdict, found Garland was not party to a joint criminal enterprise to murder Mrs Klimovitch and therefore did not know about the plot to shoot her.
But they did find him guilty of the alternative charge of manslaughter on the basis that he was part of a joint criminal enterprise to commit an unlawful or dangerous act.
Maybe he didn't know explicitly that Mrs Klimovitch was to be shot, but Garland knew something criminal could happen in Stockton on the night he drove the gunman across the bridge.
And even if they had acquitted Garland on both counts and found he was a patsy who was unwittingly dragged into an execution plot, the 65-year-old would not have walked free from the court dock.
As part of the investigation into the murder, detectives in 2021 charged Garland with a number of serious drug supply charges.
He pleaded guilty and in March was jailed for a maximum of four years, with a non-parole period of three years, meaning he is not eligible for release until November, 2024.
Garland will be looking at more time behind bars when he is sentenced for his role in Mrs Klimovitch's death in February.
