A friend round for a bbq the other night mentioned that she had heard that the Cube nightclub murder trial had finally happened recently. She wasn’t sure of the outcome of it, and when I googled for information, this cached news item below was all I came up with – it does say that the verdict was to be handed down last week so I was wondering if anyone knew what had happened with it?
Nightclub murder trial verdict due in fortnight
February 22, 2008 – 8:39AM
Source: ABC
A Canberra nightclub owner will have to wait two weeks to find out whether a judge has found him guilty of murder.
Maurizio Rao has been on trial for nearly three weeks.
He is accused of stabbing Nato Seuala twice during a brawl outside the Cube nightclub in July 2006.
Rao has admitted stabbing Mr Seuala in the stomach, but not the head.
The prosecution has argued Rao was the original aggressor and showed guilt in the weeks after the incident.
Yesterday, the defence counsel Peter Hastings told the ACT Supreme Court, there is scant evidence to support the Crown’s claim that Rao stabbed Mr Seuala in the head.
He said nobody saw the blow.
Mr Hastings told the court, his client acted in self-defence, as the deceased was the first to attack Rao.
Justice Malcolm Gray will hand down his judgment on March 6.