THE family of murdered environment compliance officer Glen Turner has launched a scathing attack on the Turnbull family, accusing them of “hijacking” patriarch Ian Turnbull’s murder trial by painting him as the victim of overzealous authorities.
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Speaking outside the Supreme Court after a jury yesterday found Turnbull, 81, guilty of murder, Mr Turner’s sister Fran Pearce said the defence case was “an attack on Glen’s character” and a “platform” for the family to air their grievances about environmental laws.
“We expected the trial to be about the murder of Glen Turner, a good man doing his job on behalf of our community,” Ms Pearce said on Friday.
“Instead, it was hijacked by the defence into an attack on Glen’s character and a platform for the Turnbull family to continue their grievance against the native vegetation laws.”
Turnbull pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter, on the grounds that his capacity to understand right or wrong or to control himself had been substantially impaired by an underlying mental illness.
The defence case was that, at the time of the shooting, Turnbull was suffering from a major depressive disorder, caused by years of tension over illegal land-clearing on the family’s properties around Croppa Creek and Moree.
The extended family had been warned, cautioned and prosecuted several times by the Office of Environment and Heritage for breaching the Native Vegetation Act.
Turnbull’s barrister Alexis Todd SC asked the jury to consider whether the OEH’s and in particular Mr Turner’s investigations and prosecutions “wore (Turnbull) down and caused him to ultimately lose self-control and snap”.
The jury rejected Turnbull’s defence and, after one day of deliberations, found him guilty of murder.
Ms Pearce said the verdict had brought the family a sense of relief that justice had been done.
However, she said the defence case had added to the distress already being suffered by the family, in particular by Mr Turner’s young children Alexandra and Jack.
“We’re very disappointed in the extended duration and the execution of the trial due to the defence team’s tactics,” Ms Pearce said.
“The murderer was portrayed as the victim – a poor depressed, respectable farmer driven to despair by the Office of Environment and Heritage.
“In reality, he is a wealthy property developer who simply refused to accept that the law applied to him.”
Mr Turner’s partner Alison McKenzie said: “We’re never going to be able to fill the void that’s been left in our lives, but we got the right result.”
Having been alerted to Mr Turner’s presence near his family’s properties by a farmhand, Turnbull drove to Talga Ln, Croppa Creek, in the early evening of July 29, 2014.
Turnbull, a lifelong farmer from Moree, shot Mr Turner, 51, in the neck and then chased him around a car for at least 22 minutes before fatally shooting him in the back .
Mr Turner’s colleague, former OEH compliance officer Robert Strange, told the court he had pleaded in vain with Turnbull to put down his gun and let him seek medical help.
“I said, ‘Sir, put the gun down, what are you doing?’,” Mr Strange said.
Turnbull said, “No, you’ve ruined the Turnbulls, you’re continually persecuting us, the only way you are going home is in a body bag.”
In cross-examination, Turnbull admitted he drove to the scene intending to kill Mr Turner.
A sentencing hearing will be held on June 15 when victim impact statements will be read.
Turnbull has been in custody since the night of the murder.
