A Queensland man who admitted helping to cover-up a killing has been found guilty of murdering his friend, a fellow drug dealer.

December 20, 2019

A Queensland drug dealer has been sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of murdering his friend, then burying him in a shallow grave in a pine forest.

Roberto Vincenzo Boscaino, 25, admitted he was involved in a cover-up after finding Samuel Thompson dead outside his house in March 2017, but denied killing him.

But after 12 hours of deliberations, a Brisbane Supreme Court jury on Friday found Boscaino guilty of murder over the death of Mr Thompson, who had been trying to find a new supplier of cannabis.

Boscaino said the person responsible was co-accused Ashley Dyball, a one-time anti-Islamic State fighter in Syria.

The pair were charged with murder after Mr Thompson’s body was found in a forest north of Brisbane about a month after he went missing. Dyball is yet to face trial.

Mr Thompson made thousands of dollars selling cannabis, stashed wads of cash and bought a new Ford Mustang with the proceeds, the nine-day trial heard.

The Crown said Mr Thompson’s search for a new cannabis supplier led him to Boscaino’s house on March 7, 2017.

He met with Boscaino and Dyball and was never seen alive again.

Justice Ann Lyons said Mr Thompson was ambushed, hit with an axe, shoved in a toolbox and dumped in an isolated pine forest with no respect.

“By whatever means, Mr Thompson’s death occurred at a time when you were present,” she said.

“The unavoidable conclusion is, you were responsible for his death.”

The trial heard he may have been killed from neck injuries consistent with strangulation or a blow from an axe to his face, or both.

Mr Thompson’s mother, Debbie, told the court Boscaino had destroyed her family.

“You’ve taken my only son … as a mother I was meant to protect my children but I had no chance of protecting my son against someone like you,” she tearfully said in her victim impact statement on Friday.

“I will never again hear his voice. I will never again feel his hugs (or) hear him say ‘I love you mum’.

“Hopefully you spend the rest of your life incarcerated because you deserve for your life to be destroyed too.”

Mr Thompson’s younger sister Courtney said her brother had a heart of gold and his death had torn her family apart.

“You broke us. You made me cry myself to sleep so many time I’ve lost count,” she said.

“You’ve hurt me in a way that nobody deserves to be hurt.

“You may be the one in jail, but we are the ones serving a life sentence.”

Boscaino alleged during the trial that Dyball told him he had “knocked” Mr Thompson, saying he “had to do it”.

He then said he tried to refuse to cover-up the killing but feared Dyball.

Boscaino had offered to plead guilty to an alternate charge of being an accessory after the fact of murder, but that was rejected by the Crown.

He must serve at least 20 years of his life sentence before becoming eligible for parole. 

Boscaino had already pleaded guilty to a separate charge of interfering with a corpse, along with drug and weapons offences.