The first man Ben Hoffman allegedly murdered tried to defend himself with a frypan, a forensic expert has told the Supreme Court in Darwin.

October 12, 2021

The first man killed when a love-sick gunman rampaged across Darwin tried to defend himself with a frypan, a forensic expert has told a court.

Benjamin Glenn Hoffmann, 47, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of murder at four locations in the afternoon on June 4, 2019.

The first man killed during the hour-long shooting spree, Hassan Baydoun, was shot at the Palms Motel about 5.38pm.

Forensic pathologist Marianne Tiemensma said the 33-year-old’s body had four gunshot wounds.

The first two shots hit Mr Baydoun in the right arm and the third left a “large gaping hole” in his chest.

“This gunshot wound caused massive disruption of the chest organs,” she told the Northern Territory Supreme Court on Tuesday.

“There were five exit wounds from pellets on the back of the body.”

The final shot hit Mr Baydoun in his head from close range while he was seated in his shower.

“This caused a massive blow out of the skull with disruption of the brain,” Dr Tiemensma said.

“There was hardly any blood at all.”

Investigators found Mr Baydoun’s dead body slumped on the floor in his shower cubicle with a frypan in his lap.

“I got the impression he was most likely trying to defend himself with the frying pan,” Dr Tiemensma said of her observations at the crime scene shortly after Mr Baydoun was killed.

The Crown says that after Hoffmann murdered Mr Baydoun, he drove to a nearby apartment block, where he shot and killed Nigel Hellings, 75.

Michael Sisois, 57, was killed from a gunshot wound to his head in a car park at a nearby bar and restaurant.

The final man to die, Rob Courtney, 52, was fatally stabbed and shot at an industrial yard at Darwin Recycling.

Dr Tiemensma said Mr Courtney sustained at least 69 injuries, including 36 stabbing and slicing wounds, multiple blunt force injuries and a gunshot wound.

“The knife was thrust in deep enough into the body for the hilt to make contact with the adjacent skin,” she said.

Mr Courtney’s body was found covered in blood and dried leaves and other vegetation.

“There was definitely evidence of a lot of blood loss in a different of locations at the scene,” Dr Tiemensma said.

“In my opinion, it was the stabbing and incise wounds that caused death.”

Dr Tiemensma said the fatal blows were likely to be two knife wounds to Mr Courtney’s head through his ear canal that severed his right carotid artery and his right jugular vein.

Prosecutor Lloyd Babb SC has said Hoffmann was searching for his ex-girlfriend, Kelly Collins, and the man she had said she loved, Alex Deligiannis when the killings happened.

The trial continues on Monday.