The trial of a Northern Territory policeman accused of murdering Kumanjayi Walker has heard from his uncle that the troubled teen was shy and quiet.

February 15, 2022

Kumanjayi Walker was a shy and quiet boy, a Northern Territory police officer who watched him grow up has told a murder trial.

Senior Aboriginal community police officer Derek Williams, who was also Mr Walker’s uncle, was in Yuendumu, 290km northwest of Alice Springs, the night the 19-year-old died.

“He never talked much. Quite shy and quiet,” Mr Williams told the Supreme Court in Darwin on Tuesday when asked about his nephew.

The troubled teen died on November 9, 2019 after Constable Zachary Rolfe, 30, shot him three times during a failed arrest attempt.

He had stabbed Rolfe in the shoulder with a pair of scissors and was scuffling with another officer, Adam Ebrerl, at the time.

Rolfe has pleaded not guilty to his murder, saying he was doing his job in “good faith” and defending himself and a colleague against a violent offender.

But prosecutor Philip Strickland SC says Mr Walker was “effectively restrained” when Rolfe fired his second and third shots and he “intended to kill”.

Mr Williams agreed with Mr Strickland that his nephew was “a bit slow” and that his mother had sniffed petrol before he was born.

He also agreed he was “surprised” by an incident on November 6 when Mr Walker violently threatened two other police officers with an axe.

They had cornered him in a home at the community and were attempting to arrest him for fleeing an alcohol rehabilitation clinic about a week earlier.

“When I dealt with him he was compliant … there was no issues with him,” Mr Williams said.

“He said ‘I’ll jump in with you because you are my family’ and off we went to the station.”

Acting Sergeant Felix Alefaio was also shocked by the axe incident saying Mr Walker had not been violent in the past.

“I cannot believe he did that. I did not expect him to run off with the axe,” he said, agreeing Mr Walker’s actions were violent.

Neither officer was injured during the so-called “axe incident” and Mr Walker escaped the officers.

But body-worn camera footage of his behaviour caused concern through the police force.

The local officer-in-charge at Yuendumu police station, Sergeant Julie Frost, also called for backup.

Three days later Rolfe was ordered to the community with three fellow officers from the Alice Springs-based Immediate Response Team to assist local police. They were also told to find and arrest Mr Walker.

Rolfe fired his first shot less than an hour after arriving.

Mr Williams rushed to the crime scene after the shooting. He also went to the police station where police were desperately trying to save his nephew’s life.

A crowd gathered outside the building and Mr Williams tried to calm them.

“People were yelling and screaming and wanted to throw rocks at the station,” he said.

Mr Walker died about two hours later.

Immediate Response Team member Constable James Kirstenfeldt said he and Rolfe met Sgt Frost soon after arriving in the community.

“We were trying to get information out of her, what we were doing, where he was, what houses he was likely to be at,” the former soldier said.

Const Kirstenfeldt said he did not recall a plan to arrest Mr Walker early the morning after he was shot, saying he thought it was a suggestion.

He answered dozens of Mr Strickland’s questions with: “I don’t recall”.

The trial continues on Wednesday.