The jury at Constable Zachary Rolfe’s NT murder trial over the death of Aboriginal teenager Kumanjayi Walker is set to begin its deliberations.

March 10, 2022

The jury at a murder-accused policeman’s trial after he fatally shot an Aboriginal teenager during an outback arrest is expected to start deliberating.

Constable Zachary Rolfe, 30, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Kumanjayi Walker after the officer was stabbed with a pair of scissors on November 9, 2019.

Rolfe fired three shots into the 19-year-old’s back and torso as the teen resisted arrest in Yuendumu, 290km northwest of Alice Springs.

The Crown has conceded the first shot, fired while Mr Walker was standing and wrestling with Sergeant Adam Eberl, was justified.

But it says the second and third shots, which are the subject of the murder charge, went “too far”.

Rolfe’s four-and-a-half week trial has heard evidence from about 40 witnesses and repeatedly watched police body-worn video footage of the shooting.

Jurors at the Northern Territory Supreme Court has heard the constable was sent to the remote community of about 800 from Alice Springs with four other officers.

Senior police have given evidence that Rolfe and his colleagues were ordered to carry out a highly visible patrol whilst gathering intelligence about Mr Walker’s location.

They were also told to arrest Mr Walker early the following morning when he was likely to be sleeping and easily taken into custody.

Instead, they tracked down the teen at his grandmother’s home within 15 minutes of leaving the Yuendumu police station.

Police body-worn camera footage of the incident shows Mr Walker lie about his identity before Rolfe and Sgt Eberl attempt to handcuff him as a scuffle breaks out.

The teen then stabs Rolfe in his shoulder with a pair of scissors before the constable fires one shot into his back about a minute later.

He fires the next two shots in quick succession 2.6 seconds after the first.

Prosecutor Philip Strickland SC has said Sgt Eberl was “effectively restraining” Mr Walker on the ground at the time.

Rolfe has told the jury he spotted the teen stabbing Sgt Eberl in the chest and neck, saying he feared for his and his partner’s lives.

But a medical examination found Sgt Eberl did not suffer any stab wounds and Mr Strickland has accused the constable of making up evidence.

He said police body-worn camera footage does not support the claim and it was contradicted by Sgt Eberl, who told the jury he had trapped the teen’s arm at the same time.

“It was a lie to justify the unjustifiable. He was saying it because he knew he had gone too far. He knew he had been too gung ho,” he said.

He has also questioned Rolfe’s decision to enter a dark home in search of the teen.

“It was because he wanted to arrest (Walker) there and then,” Mr Strickland said.

“He did not want to cordon and contain. He did not want to negotiate a surrender.”

Justice John Burns said he would address the jury on Thursday morning before it starts deliberating later in the day.