On the day Billy Hegedus would have turned 22, the man accused of his murder walked free from court after being found not guilty.
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As Billy’s mother quietly sobbed in the public gallery and his father held her hand, Justin Michael McInerney, Billy’s schoolmate, stepped out of the dock yesterday after facing his fourth trial.
Mr McInerney, 22, was acquitted by a jury of 11 people of the murder of 17-year-old Billy, who was shot twice with a pump action .22 calibre rifle in his parents’ roadhouse at Inverell in October 1996.
The prosecution had alleged Mr McInerney shot Billy while robbing the roadhouse safe.
But the NSW Supreme Court was told Mr McInerney was returning home from a trip to Armidale about the time Billy was killed.
In Mr McInerney’s first trial, the jury was unable to reach a verdict.
His second trial was aborted when the Crown prosecutor became seriously ill.
The third trial was aborted when the jury heard evidence prejudicial to Mr McInerney’s case it was not meant to hear.
