Victoria Park double-murder accused Luke David Fawcett ‘rehearsed’ attack in black latex suit, court hears

A video recording alleged to be an accused double murderer dressed up in a black latex suit and mask, “rehearsing” an attack on “an imaginary person” has been shown to a Supreme Court jury in Perth.

The recording was downloaded from the mobile phone of Luke David Fawcett, who is on trial accused of murdering his neighbour, 66-year-old Marie Collins, and her brother, Wayne Johnson, 62, over the Easter weekend last year.

‘Dress rehearsal’ footage found on mobile phone

The four-minute recording, discovered by police after Mr Fawcett’s arrest, shows a man dressed in a black coverall suit in a dimly lit room, putting a mask over his face before picking up what prosecutors alleged was a knife in one hand and a taser in the other.

The man starts off by saying “listen here” before making threats.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way. If it’s the hard way you will be severely hurt and if you keep pushing, eventually I will kill you,” he said on the recording.

The man then appears to fire the taser.

After that, he walks away from the camera and takes off the gloves and mask before unzipping the top of the suit and putting on a T-shirt.

The recording is then turned off.

Prosecutors described the recording as “the black-suit video” and said it appeared to be Mr Fawcett rehearsing his attack on Ms Collins by confronting an “imaginary person.”

Constable Brad Wright told the court that metadata from Mr Fawcett’s phone indicated the video was created on March 29, 2020 — two weeks before the alleged murders.

CCTV from hardware store tendered in court

The jury was also shown CCTV footage from two hardware stores in April when Mr Fawcett was alleged to have purchased a blue tarpaulin and yellow rope.

The court’s been told Ms Collins’ body was found on the floor of her apartment wrapped in a blue tarpaulin that was tied with pieces of yellow rope.

There was also CCTV from a supermarket purporting to show Mr Fawcett buying numerous bottles of a particular type of smoothie drink — similar bottles were found by police in Ms Collins’ apartment.

Mr Fawcett denies having anything to do with the death of Ms Collins, who was his next-door neighbour.

He does admit killing Mr Johnson, but maintains he acted in self-defence when they were involved in “a struggle for their lives” after Mr Johnson attacked him, believing he was responsible for what happened to his sister.

While prosecutors have not alleged any motive for Ms Collin’s murder, they have suggested that it may have been Mr Fawcett wanting to take over his apartment, which had city views and was twice the size of his.

The jury has been shown text messages he sent to a friend on the day of Ms Collin’s death, in which he claimed to have “bought a penthouse apartment”.

“Three bedroom, two bathroom … Victoria Park. Nice and central”

“… v nice, city views. I’ll stop bragging sorry.”

Fawcett calls himself ‘sexiest patient ever’ in text messages

The court has heard Mr Fawcett suffered injuries, including a dislocated shoulder and stab wounds to the knee and arm, and ended up in Royal Perth Hospital where he was arrested on suspicion of murder on April 13.

Medical records tendered at the trial, show when he arrived at the hospital, Mr Fawcett told staff he had “slipped with a knife in his hand.”

Before his arrest, he also sent text messages and photos describing himself as “sexiest patient ever” and claiming he “fell down some stairs while holding a knife.”

Earlier, the court was read a statement provided by Mr Fawcett’s former partner, Kerstie Pasoja, who said she had moved out of their apartment after their three-year relationship ended.

She described Ms Collins as a very friendly and kind woman who always took an interest in what she and Luke were doing.

Ms Pasoja said Ms Collins was a very religious woman and told them she would pray for Luke often, particularly when he lost another job.