It was dusk in downtown Darwin when the first shots rang out.
Key points:
- Four men were killed on June 4, 2019, when Benjamin Hoffmann shot Darwin.
- He pleaded guilty to three counts of murder and one count of manslaughter in 2021
- Hoffmann has not yet been convicted of his crimes
A counterproductive car?
Fireworks from the first day of the territory?
But the horrors that unfolded at sunset on June 4, 2019 were far worse than anyone could have imagined.
As the third anniversary approaches, no one knows how long Benjamin Hoffmann will spend in prison for his terrible crimes.
Hoffmann, wearing a high-visibility T-shirt with methamphetamine, rushed into the rooms of the Palms Motel, firing a gun and shouting at a man named “Alex.”
It was there, around 5:40 p.m., that he murdered Hassan Baydoun, a 33-year-old taxi driver who was taking a break from work.
(Clockwise from top left) Robert Courtney, Hassan Baydoun, Michael Sisois and Nigel Hellings. (Supplied)
A young woman was also shot in the leg, and her partner later told the Northern Territory Supreme Court about the terrifying moment in which she begged the gunman to kill them.
He did.
Hoffmann then returned to a white car he had borrowed from a friend and passed on to his next victim.
In a quiet apartment block in the suburbs of The Gardens, Hoffmann shot and killed 75-year-old Nigel Hellings.
Up the road, at the Buff Club, Michael Sisois, 57, a colleague and friend of Hoffmann’s, was killed in the parking lot.
Police were hot at the time, but Hoffmann still managed to get out of the CBD and take another life, that of 52-year-old Robert Courtney, before apparently trying to escape.
At the NT police headquarters, 15 kilometers from the CBD, an injured and bleeding Hoffmann is captured by CCTV grabbing a shotgun and trying to force himself through the front doors of the closed police station.
Unsuccessfully, he returned to the ute and began driving towards the CBD, calling himself triple-0, declaring that he needed “help”.
At the other end of the phone line, veteran police officer Lee Morgan desperately tried to convince the gunman to approach.
“Well, I don’t want you to go into the front desk of the police station okay … I really don’t want you to drive back to town,” Superintendent Morgan said.
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Hoffmann returned to the scene of the shooting, in front of the Palms Motel at one of Darwin’s busiest intersections, before General Service Officer Michael Kent persuaded him to get out of the car.
“I’ll save you with my life,” Officer Kent told the gunman, who was terrified that the police would shoot him.
Tactical police immediately rushed to the ground and dropped the battered and bleeding killer in the middle of the road.
“An Hour of Chaos,” as described later that night, came to a dramatic end.
But for the families of Hoffmann’s victims and for the city of Darwin, the chaos had only just begun.
Three years later, still without a sentence
After his arrest and time in hospital, Hoffmann appeared in court for the first time a few days after the hit.
“I’m very sorry about what happened,” he said from a video link room in Darwin Prison.
Nearly three years later, Hoffmann continues to rule in court, despite his lawyer’s best efforts to keep him quiet.
He regularly makes dramatic allegations of corruption and coercion, handing out handwritten letters to the Supreme Court judge presiding over his case.
Benjamin Glenn Hoffmann changed his conviction to the end of his nine-week trial. (Provided by: Elizabeth Howell)
Several weeks after what was supposed to be a nine-week murder trial, which forced the victims and their families to relive the trauma of their terrible crimes, Hoffmann changed his mind and pleaded guilty.
He pleaded guilty to the murders of Mr Baydoun, Mr Sisois and Mr Courtney, the involuntary manslaughter of Mr Hellings and a handful of minor, albeit serious, crimes committed during his commotion.
But even though a statement was made more than six months ago and the third anniversary of the shooting is approaching, those forever affected by Hoffmann’s crimes are still waiting to find out how long he will spend in prison.
Efforts to convict Hoffmann have been hampered by the killer himself, with him firing and re-hiring a number of publicly-funded lawyers.
According to Chrissy McConnel, president of the NT Bar Association, legal representation is a fundamental right granted to all Australians, regardless of their crime.
“Everyone has the right to seek legal aid … Access to justice is absolutely essential to upholding the rule of fairness and equality before the law,” McConnel said.
The sentencing process finally began on Friday, with the first of a series of medical experts called in to testify on the killer’s mood.
Hoffmann’s period of parole could be affected by the judge’s determination of his level of guilt during the crime. (Provided by: Facebook)
Hoffmann and his lawyers, who work for free after cutting their Legal Aid funds, have suggested that he was experiencing drug-induced delirium, paranoia and psychosis at the time of the shooting, and his sentence should reflect that.
Prosecutors have suggested he was drugged, but fully aware that his actions were wrong, which should not alter his moral guilt.
Outside the Supreme Court, the case may seem clear, but inside, Hoffmann has woven a complicated web of claims, which under Australian law deserve to be heard.
Hoffmann has often alleged unfair treatment by the justice system. (ABC News: Che Chorley)
“Access to justice is a fundamental right of all people, so it is very important that the court allows the proceedings to continue and that all avenues for an accused person to … all relevant evidence in order to fairly assess its importance, “Ms McConnel said.
“No one wants to see how mistakes are made in a legal process, and making sure that all processes are followed in the first instance reduces the risk of errors that could lead to an appeal, which of course it makes things even longer. “
Another day of medical evidence will be heard on July 25 before the final communications from Hoffmann’s lawyers and Crown prosecutors are made.
Although Hoffmann is one step closer to knowing his fate, it is still unknown exactly when his victims and their families will be able to close this chapter of their lives.