Mother's relief at guilty verdict after 'beautiful soul' cut up with a chainsaw

Wade Dunn was beaten to death, chopped up with a chainsaw and his head kept in a ute for four days. Photo / news.com.au

Murder victim Wade Cameron Dunn, who was beaten to death and cut to pieces with a chainsaw, wasn't only a drug dealer and addict, his devastated family say.

Dunn was also a loving father of three and knowing his dismembered body has never been found is heartbreaking for his grieving mother.

The family had some closure on Tuesday when a Supreme Court jury in Perth found Gary David Jackson, 51, guilty of murdering the 40-year-old at the Alexander Heights home of Mark David Corbett in May last year.

The jury also convicted Jackson of conspiring to pervert the course of justice because he tried to stop Corbett, who had previously pleaded guilty, from giving evidence.

The trial heard disturbing details of how Jackson had cut off Dunn's hands because he had scratched Jackson and he was worried about Dunn's DNA being found on him.

The court was also told Jackson cut off Dunn's head and kept it in his ute until a friend noticed the smell.

But Jackson's lawyer David McKenzie told AAP it was "extremely likely" the case would go to the Court of Appeal.

"He looked devastated and he told me how devastated he was and said to me that all the important evidence was ignored," McKenzie said. "He maintains his innocence."

'You don't get over it'

Dunn's mother, Robyn Hudson, said she was very happy with the verdict but was distressed not to have her son's body, which the court heard was cut into pieces with a chainsaw, to lay to rest.

"We don't have a funeral to go to, we don't have a final ending," she told reporters outside court.

"You don't get over it. You learn to live with it." Hudson said it was "worse than devastating" to sit through the trial and had to leave because she could not hear about the "blood and gore" any more. She said her son's spirit would live on in his children, aged 8, 10 and 14.

"I would like Wade to be remembered as a beautiful, spiritual soul, a very caring family man, a great dad," she said.

"His children loved him so much - it's devastated his children. He was always there for the family and the friends.

"Once you met Wade, you loved Wade. There was nothing that you couldn't like about Wade because he was just always happy-go-lucky. It's just that the drugs got hold of him."

Some of Dunn's supporters cheered when the guilty verdict for murder was announced, prompting Justice Jeremy Allanson to warn against further outbursts. Others in court wept as Jackson remained quiet in the dock.

Jackson gave evidence during the trial that he had no involvement in Dunn's death and rejected claims he told Corbett he wanted to "whack" him.

"That's wrong. I had no reason to whack Wade," he said.

It was alleged Corbett had a $27,000 drug debt and Dunn was lured to Corbett's house under the pretext of collecting the money.

But instead, Dunn was beaten to death with a metal pole, cut into pieces with a chainsaw and dumped in bushland near Bindoon, northeast of Perth. His head was kept in Jackson's ute for days.

Jackson denied having anything to do with Dunn's death, claiming that while he was at the house he was also hit with a pole and rendered almost unconscious.
He said the last time he saw Dunn alive he was leaving the house with Corbett and another man, reported the ABC.

Jackson will face a sentencing hearing on January 12.