The mother of an alleged murder victim has covered her ears as a court was played audio of her son screaming for help after being stabbed in a botched drug deal.
Threats picked up on CCTV cameras allegedly made by the two men accused of murdering William Holdback, 21, were also played to a jury in the South Australian Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Mr Holdback was stabbed 10 times after a drug deal disagreement in Adelaide with Brian Slann, 54, and his 29-year-old son Liam, the jury was told.
He had arranged to meet about 1.15am on April 10, 2024 and collect drugs from Liam Slann, who arrived with his father in a blue BMW, prosecutor Nicola Moore said.
“What happened next is caught on a variety of (CCTV) cameras," Ms Moore said in her opening address.
After a brief meeting, Mr Holdback smashed the BMW's rear passenger window with a metal bar and ran away, chased by Liam Slann, the prosecutor said.
“As this pursuit unfolds … Liam Slann shouts 'you're f***ed, c***' ... seconds later, Brian Slann shouts ‘get him, Liam’,” she said.
Mr Holdback then stumbled and fell out of view of the camera footage, Ms Moore said.
"As Liam reaches that part of the scene, you hear him say ‘I've got you now. I've got you now. I'm going to stab you, c***’.
“Eight seconds (later) … Brian says ‘stab him, Liam’.”
On another CCTV camera recording “the first thing you hear is a voice crying for help,” Ms Moore said.
“He shouts six times. Four of the words are clearly ‘help’.”
Mr Holdback’s mother, Kylee Butterick, held her hands over her ears in the public gallery as the camera audio played.
The defendants drove home in the BMW without calling for help, the jury was told.
“Neither went back. (Mr Holdback) was left, having been stabbed multiple times, and he died at the scene," Ms Moore said.
The number of wounds and their placement demonstrated the ferocity of the attack, she said.
Mr Holdback was found by a person nearby who had heard the shouting and called emergency services who pronounced the 21-year-old dead.
Brian Slann was just as responsible for the killing as his son because he was party to a joint criminal enterprise, Ms Moore said.
Liam Slann pleaded guilty to manslaughter but the prosecution did not accept his plea.
Defence lawyer Elizabeth Mansfield said her client admitted he had caused Mr Holdback’s death.
“The video that you've seen is confronting and it is distressing,” she told the jury.
“But it's important that you put your feelings of sympathy or indeed distaste aside and bring an impartial, objective, and open mind as you consider … all of the evidence.”
Nick Healy, for Brian Slann, said his client was not guilty of murder and manslaughter, and there “simply was no agreement between him and his son to commit murder”.
The trial before Justice Julie McIntyre continues.
