Accused murderer Roger Rogerson pulled a gun from his right pocket and twice shot alleged drug dealer Jamie Gao, who was armed with a combat knife, as their argument over a deal escalated, a court has heard.
Rogerson's co-accused Glen McNamara became emotional as he took to the witness stand for the first time in the pair's long-running Supreme Court murder trial on Thursday, with the crown wrapping its case earlier in the afternoon.
The crown case is the two men, who accuse each other of killing Mr Gao, shot the alleged drug dealer at a Padstow storage unit before stuffing his body into a surfboard bag and dumping it at sea in May, 2014.
But McNamara has squarely blamed Rogerson, telling the jury he had no idea why there was a meeting between himself, Rogerson and Mr Gao at the unit.
McNamara had driven Mr Gao there.
Mr Gao, the court heard, had let himself into McNamara's car at a nearby McDonalds and was lying on the floor near the rear seats, clearly scared.
"Gao said 'the triads have been chasing me all f---ing day'," McNamara told the court.
Minutes later they were inside the storage unit and Rogerson went off at Mr Gao directly, the court heard.
According to McNamara, Rogerson said to Mr Gao: "you were supposed to come to me, you f---ing idiot.
Mr Gao responded: "It's better to have witnesses. Where's the f---ing money?"
"Where's the gear?" Rogerson then asked.
"There's no money for you f---wit."
Mr Gao repeated his demand, Rogerson did the same and as Mr Gao offered another "f--- off" he pulled a large combat knife from a bag, McNamara said.
Mr Gao was seated but had tried to stand up, which would have put him directly in front of Rogerson, the court heard.
"I saw Roger pull a gun from the right pocket of his pants," McNamara said.
"He was seething with anger."
At this point, McNamara stepped back and hid under a table, he said.
Rogerson then shot Mr Gao, leaving him splayed and groaning in a chair.
There was a tinkle as Mr Gao dropped his knife, but Rogerson wasn't finished, McNamara said.
"He held aim and shot him again," he said.
"Gao stopped moving. There was no noise. He just killed him.
"I said to him, 'Why, why, why?'"
Rogerson sat with a grin on his face as his co-accused gave his version of events to the jury.
McNamara's case will continue on Friday.
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