David Pye: Trial for accused mastermind behind murder of bikie boss Nick Martin murder comes to abrupt end

The accused mastermind behind the execution of Rebels kingpin Nick Martin has elected not to take the stand and give evidence in his defence as one of the most anticipated underbelly trials came to an abrupt end. Prosecutors on Thursday finished outlining evidence in the case against David James Pye, who is accused of paying a sniper $150,000 to have Martin killed at Perth Motorplex in December 2020. He is also alleged to have offered the shooter more money for a separate a hit on Comanchero Ray Cilli, and another contract on a woman who had pressed charges against Pye for sexual assault. The trial was expected to last up to a month, however came to an end after just over six days of evidence. After the prosecution case finished, Pye took 30 minutes to speak with his high-profile lawyer Paul Holmes to consider the option of taking the stand. When court resumed, his defence barrister David Hallowes said the bikie would not be giving evidence in his defence. Instead, Mr Hallowes tendered an extract from a psychiatric report conducted on the sniper, and a series of 14 photographs of bundles of cash which amounted to $200,000. He then concluded Pye’s defence. Supreme Court Justice Joseph McGrath, who is hearing the case without a jury, said he would need to take time to consider the extensive amount of evidence in the case to assist with coming to a verdict. Justice McGrath asked for written submissions from the prosecution detailing the relevance of the material it had provided for its case and the elements of the law it would rely upon in arguing his guilt beyond reasonable doubt. The case against Pye relies heavily on circumstantial evidence and the sole piece of evidence allegedly directly linking Pye to Martin’s murder being the testimony from the gunman, who the defence has argued is a liar and cannot be trusted. The trial was adjourned until Wednesday when the defence and prosecution will make their closing remarks. In the meantime, Pye will remain on bail and watched closely by police — an arrangement that Police Commissioner Col Blanch on Thursday said his officers had opposed and did not want. “There are concerns, not just personal for David Pye — I think there’s community safety concerns when someone who is alleged to have committed those crimes in an organised crime environment is not behind bars,” Mr Blanch said. “We have well trained officers whose job it is to do things like this, but I’ll leave that decision up to the court, and it is their decision to make. We have the resources. We have deployed them to that.” Earlier in Pye’s trial, senior officers involved in the homicide investigation into Nick Martin’s murder were the last to take to the stand and give evidence on behalf of the prosecution. Under questioning from Mr Hallowes, Detective Senior Sergeant Gregory McDonald, of the homicide squad, confirmed that Pye was identified as a priority suspect within weeks of Martin’s execution. The veteran officer was shown his investigation reports in the early part of the investigation, in which he had detailed how nearly half of the 61 suspects in Martin’s murder weren’t subject to inquiries by officers due to “insufficient resources”. Police were prioritising their inquiries on Pye. Then in July 2021 resources for the murder investigation were further slashed again. Mr McDonald conceded that 23 phones seized by the gang crime squad as part of their operation targeting bikies in the wake of the assassination never had their contents downloaded and analysed before they were returned. He said the phones “weren’t necessary” to the investigation despite not knowing what was on them.