Murder accused Jack Sadler used song lyrics to help with disposing of victim, prosecution tells court

A man accused of murder had a room lined with plastic and used lyrics from a song he had heard on streaming platform Spotify to help him dispose of a body, the prosecution has told the court.

Jack Harrison Vincent Sadler, 28, has pleaded not guilty to murdering 24-year-old Jake Anderson-Brettner, whose torso was found off the side of a highway in Tasmania’s north-east almost three years ago.

Mr Sadler’s trial has begun in the Supreme Court in Launceston.

Warning: This story contains details that may cause distress to some readers.

The prosecution told the court the pair, who were acquaintances, had a falling out and agreed to meet at Mr Sadler’s home in the Launceston suburb of Riverside on the night of August 15, 2018. 

In his opening statement, Director of Public Prosecutions Daryl Coates SC said that in the days leading up to Mr Anderson-Brettner’s death, the accused directed his girlfriend, Gemma Clark, to buy several items including bleach, firelighters, tape, disposable gloves and overalls, a saw and goggles.  

The prosecution told the court Mr Sadler also instructed Ms Clark to purchase vinegar, pepper and chilli powder from the supermarket.  

Room set up with plastic lining

The prosecution said on the day of his death, Mr Anderson-Brettner was described by his friends as being in “good spirits” and “talking about how he’s just been approved for a house loan”.

The court heard that before entering Mr Sadler’s house, Mr Anderson-Brettner took a phone call from his real estate agent, who was “the last person outside the residence to speak to the deceased.”

The prosecution told the court Mr Sadler had a room set up with plastic lining the walls, in preparation for murder.

Mr Coates said Mr Sadler took Mr Andersen-Brettner into the room and shot him three times before cutting off his head, legs and arms. 

It is alleged Mr Sadler wrapped the torso in sheets and a mattress protector while the other dismembered body parts were placed into garbage bags that Ms Clark held open.

He then allegedly instructed Ms Clark to mix the vinegar, pepper, and chilli powder together, which was then poured into the garbage bags to mask the smell. 

Mr Coates told the court police located the deceased’s torso off the Tasman highway near Scottsdale in the state’s north-east just days later. 

“No other parts of Mr Anderson-Brettner’s body were ever found,” Mr Coates said.

Body parts dumped in wheelie bins, prosecution alleges 

The court heard a post-mortem of the torso found that the deceased’s head had been removed just below the lower jaw. 

The prosecution said it appeared there had been chopping by an axe and other injuries by knife.

“The limbs and the head had been removed after death.”  

Mr Coates said Mr Anderson-Brettner’s other body parts, placed in the garbage bags, had been dumped in residential wheelie bins around the Launceston area. 

The court heard it was alleged that Mr Sadler got the idea for the method of disposal from listening to the lyrics of Dead Body Disposal, a song the court heard he was listening to in the days leading up to Mr Anderson-Brettner’s death.

“Mr Brettner’s body was disposed of in a very similar way to the song,” Mr Coates told the court. 

Mr Coates read out some of the song’s lyrics in court:

And cut the f****** corpse up like a butcher to meat kid

And put the pieces inside trash bags

And throw the bags away in various trash bins in different areas

And if you do it just before a trash pick up

The bodies hauled away before it decays and stinks up

Accused admits disposing of body: lawyer

Defence lawyer Greg Richardson told the court Mr Sadler was involved in the disposal of the deceased’s body and that it was not in dispute that Mr Anderson-Brettner died an unnatural death. 

“The central issue you’re going to have to determine is: ‘Did Jack Sadler kill Jake Anderson-Brettner?'”

“Leave your emotions out of your judgement.”

He told the court the trial would have a lot of circumstantial evidence.

Justice Pearce said the trial would hear from almost 30 witnesses, including friends and family of both the accused and deceased, as well as police officers and a forensic pathologist. 

He said it was expected to run for about four weeks and some of the evidence would be confronting.

The first witnesses will be called on Wednesday.