A Victorian man has been found guilty of the attempted murder of a man who was already dead after he tried to kill him again.
Fairfax reports on the bizarre case, which has legal scholars stumped.
Lawyers have told Supreme Court Justice Paul Coghlan that they can’t find any similar cases on the books.
A jury found Daniel Darrington, 39, guilty of trying to murder Rocky Matskassy, 31, in October.
However, Rocky was probably already dead when Daniel tried to kill him.
The pair had been struggling over a gun, and Rocky was accidentally shot in the head.
Darrington claimed he then shot Rocky a second time because he was jerking and he wanted ‘to put him out of his misery.’
‘The medical evidence suggested these movements could have been involuntary responses after death,’ the Fairfax report says.
Rocky’s sister told the court that she was devastated by her brother’s death. She said her own mother was murdered when she was 12 and Rocky was nine. Her father stood trial but was found not guilty.
