Five years later, after two trials, eight men and a woman were found guilty of their various roles in the deaths of Triscaru and Breton.
The victims were drug dealers; the prosecution case was that the pair were abducted and killed because Breton’s supplier became paranoid that he was “setting him up”.
Four men were found guilty of double murder and sentenced in 2021 to life imprisonment, while Waylon Walker was instead convicted of manslaughter.
Despite accepting that Walker was not directly involved in the “intentional killings”, the judge said that he was aware Breton had been assaulted and took no action after discovering the pair had been killed.
Instead, Walker fled to New Zealand and later lied to police in an interview, before being extradited to Australia to stand trial. He was sentenced to 12 years in jail.
However, his legal team appealed his double manslaughter convictions on the grounds that the evidence did not support the jury’s verdicts, and the trial judge also made mistakes in directing the jury on Walker’s conduct after the pair were killed.
The evidence showed that Walker had visited the unit where Breton was being held, saw what had happened, and then left to fill a Peugeot car with petrol.
“He was in shock…he was very silent and he had his hands on his face, and he was pale,” said Walker’s girlfriend, recounting a conversation at the trial.
“He told me that he had seen a boy at the unit, that he was badly beaten, he had gaffer tape over his mouth, he had zip ties on his body.”
The girlfriend suggested raising the alarm, to which Walker said: “No, we’re not calling the f***king police.”
A few hours later, Walker returned to the unit. There was no evidence to suggest that he placed Breton or Triscaru into the toolbox, or carried the toolbox to a waiting Toyota Hilux.
Five vehicles left the unit, with the Toyota Hilux heading towards the Scrubby Creek lagoon where the toolbox was later discovered in the water.
Walker drove away in the Peugeot with the alleged ringleader - the drug supplier who thought Breton was “setting him up” - as a passenger.
After the bodies were found, Walker left Australia on a one-way ticket to New Zealand and later told lies to police officers who interviewed him.
In considering his arguments to overturn the manslaughter verdicts, the Court of Appeal noted that Walker was not present when the toolbox was put in the water.
He was also not part of the torture, or cleaning up the blood and other evidence.
Walker’s defence at trial was that he believed that Breton and Triscaru were being taken on a “boot ride”; a common practice in the criminal underworld where individuals are forced into the boot of a car, or container, against their will.
They are then driven around, perhaps in fear for their life, but eventually released.
In considering Walker’s state of mind, the Court of Appeal said his “voluntary and deliberate presence” was evidence of aiding some unlawful activity.
But the prosecution case could not disprove that Walker thought the victims were being taken on a “boot ride”, rather than killed, the Court of Appeal ruled.
“The notion that he might have thought that he was participating in a boot ride was not fanciful at all,” the Court of Appeal wrote.
“It seems to us that it was not open for the jury to conclude that that possibility was excluded beyond reasonable doubt. It would then follow that we find that it was not open to the jury to conclude that his guilt of manslaughter was proved beyond reasonable doubt.”
The Court of Appeal quashed the manslaughter convictions but also directed that Walker be acquitted of the offences. That means he will not stand trial again with the three co-defendants, including the alleged ringleader, whose murder convictions were also quashed.
Australian-based defence lawyer Daniel Hannay, who has also started working in New Zealand, said Walker’s acquittal was a great outcome for his client.
“The judgment speaks for itself. He’s cleared his name, but it’s a pity he spent 7½ years in custody for a crime he didn’t commit.”
Hannay said he was investigating if Walker could make a claim for compensation for the time he spent in prison.
Despite being acquitted, Walker had since been deported to New Zealand after Australian authorities cancelled his visa on ‘good character’ grounds.
He was now living in the Waikato and “doing the best he could in the circumstances”, Hannay said.
“We’re also looking into whether Mr Walker can return to Australia, which is ultimately where he wants to spend the rest of his life.”
