Last week the Supreme Court heard how Gavin Parnell had known Jay Brogden for approximately 12 months when he was forced to murder his friend on a fishing boat by a drug dealer they had both been working for.
It has been almost 15 years since Mr Brogden’s disappearance and his body has never been found, nor has anyone been convicted.
But that all changed when revelatory details were exposed last week detailing how Mr Parnell, who has long been suspected of the 21-year-old’s murder and was arrested in September 2019, stood in front of the supreme court and admitted he fired the shot that killed his friend.
Mr Parnell told the jury that the deadly encounter began when he ‘vouched’ for his mate during a conflict with an Airlie Beach ‘drug kingpin’ who had accused Mr Brogden of stealing a large amount of methamphetamine.
The pair were then invited out on a fishing trip with the kingpin, in what Mr Parnell believed was an innocent trip out to sea.
This soon turned violent, however, when the drug boss started yelling at Jay, accusing him once again of stealing the drugs.
At this point, Mr Parnell allegedly felt a gun push into his back and a sawn-off shotgun, which was held together with duct tape, thrust into his hand.
He was then told to shoot Mr Brogden.
In court, Mr Parnell described the scene – a petrified Mr Brogden breaking down in tears and Mr Parnell shaking with fear and urinating himself.
Amidst the yelling, the shotgun fired, hitting Mr Brogden in the back right side of his head.
Mr Parnell broke down in court when he told the jury how he was forced to push Mr Brogden’s body off the boat and then vomited in the courtroom when he described cleaning up the blood.
After this, court was briefly adjourned, returning sometime later for the cross examination.
At this point, crown prosecutor Nathan Crane asserted that Mr Parnell had known the true purpose of the boat trip was to discuss the missing drugs and that he had been told they needed to take Mr Brogden somewhere quiet.
During the proceedings the court heard from 30 witnesses, including Mr Brogden’s family.
After all evidence was heard the jury, which consisted of eight women and four men, began deliberating into the evening.
It took them six hours to conclude that Mr Parnell was guilty, and he was given a life sentence, less the 960 days he had already served since his arrest.
Mr Brogden’s family were present at the time and were relieved to finally receive some closure as the week-long court proceedings marked the end of a 15 year wait to see a murderer brought to justice.
21-year-old Jay Brogden disappeared from Airlie Beach in 2007
Gavin Parnell was convicted of murdering Jay Brogden
