A man accused of murdering his housemate has told a court he picked up an axe and struck him, leaving a wound like a "gaping mouth" in his skull.
Phillip Hudson-Jones said he had been living in fear of Mariusz Majewski, a man he said had been part of organised criminal gang and who had killed for money.
The incinerated remains of Mr Majewski were found by police in a specially constructed fire pit in the back garden of a house in Felinfoel, Llanelli, in November last year.
Hudson-Jones and co-accused Adrian Iwanowski are alleged to have murdered the 31-year-old — a charge they deny.
Hudson-Jones took to the witness box at Swansea Crown Court to give evidence.
He told the jury he had been introduced to Mr Majewski by his friend Iwanowski in the summer of 2015 as a man who needed somewhere to stay.
Mr Majewski moved in to Hudson-Jones' house but the defendant said he soon found out more about his tenant's past — that he was on the run from a "Polish cartel" in the Midlands after stealing a large quantity of amphetamine from them; that he had killed a man in Greece for money; and that he wanted to go home to Poland but couldn't travel through Germany because he was wanted for an attack on a policeman.
Hudson-Jones said that in the weeks before his death, Mr Majewski became increasingly paranoid that the criminals he had double-crossed would find him — he would sit up all night drinking vodka and taking amphetamine, he barricaded the doors of the house, and carried a screwdriver with him at all times.
He said that in the week before Mr Majewski died he had attacked fellow countryman Iwanowski with a wooden pole, beating him about the head and hospitalising him because he thought he had stolen some of his amphetamine.
The defendant said matters came to a head on November 6 when Mr Majewski also accused him of taking some of his drugs and "went for him" with a hammer in the living room of the house they shared.
Hudson-Jones described how he parried the first blow then grabbed an axe from his tool bag and struck back.
He said: "I swung my axe. I hit him on the top of the head. He would have beaten me to death.
"I pushed him away, he fell back onto the sofa."
Asked if he could see a wound on Mr Majewski's head, Hudson-Jones described it as looking like a "gaping mouth".
At times on the verge of tears, the defendant said he wrapped Mr Majewski's bleeding head in a towel but that his victim let out a "guttural groan" and stopped breathing.
Hudson-Jones then said how things became "displaced and surreal" — frightened of calling the police, and frightened that Mr Majewski's criminal associates would come after him seeking revenge, he wrapped the body in a duvet then left the house to go shopping with friends.
The following day he said he dug a fire pit in the back garden, and then on the Sunday he and Iwanowski put Mr Majewski's body in it — having first cut-off the dead man's legs with a saw off to ensure he fitted - and torched it.
Hudson-Jones, aged 45, of Pleasant View, Felinfoel, Llanelli, and 21-year-old Iwanowski, of Station Road, Llanelli, deny murder.
Three other people are also on trial in relation to the death of Mr Majewski — Adam Goodwin, 37, of Caeglas, Cross Hands; Jason Henderson, 44, of Foelgastell near Brechfa; and 18-year-old Sophie Jones of Clos St Paul, Llanelli are accused of assisting an offender. The trio deny the charges against them.
The trial continues.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/organised-crime-hitman-killed-axe-12051448
No comments:
Post a Comment