Damian Kyle Beckerleg: Fate of accused murderer to rest in jury’s hands after closing submissions heard

A 44-year-old Eaton man accused of murdering his best friend of 37 years with a samurai sword is set to have his fate rest in the hands of a Supreme Court jury as the court heard closing submissions. Counsel have given their closing addresses to the jury on Tuesday arguing their respective cases for and against Damian Kyle Beckerleg, who stands accused of murdering Carey Park man James Shane Reimers in May last year. State prosecutor Brett Tooker told the court Mr Beckerleg using a samurai sword to “defend himself and his family” was a “wholly disproportionate” response to Mr Reimers’ prior assaults against him at Leicester Reserve and inside Mr Beckerleg’s Cleveland Bay Avenue home. Mr Tooker described Mr Beckerleg’s attack on Mr Reimers as a “brutal execution by a trained slaughterman”, referring to his 12 years of experience working at a local abattoir, and his alcohol-affected thoughts during the events of May 21, 2020 was a “terrible overreaction”. Mr Tooker also told the court the State did not accept Mr Beckerleg’s explanation that he only intended on hurting Mr Reimers. “Mr Beckerleg was acting out of rage,” he said. “He was so incensed and enraged by what happened to him and he was avenging the attack on him.” Mr Tooker also told the court Mr Beckerleg attacked Mr Reimers “savagely and mercilessly” as his victim tried crawling away, begging for his life. Mr Tooker also submitted there was “an important part of the story missing” as there was no explanation as to why Mr Reimers attacked Mr Beckerleg at their fishing spot. “Mr Beckerleg is being selective with the truth,” he said. “He is only telling us the truth when it suits him.” It was also noted Mr Reimers never used a weapon in his attacks on Mr Beckerleg despite there being weapons available and that Mr Reimers let Mr Beckerleg go after the first attack. “Mr Reimers might have threatened to kill Mr Beckerleg but he never intended on truly killing him,” Mr Tooker said. “Mr Reimers was angry, belligerent and was mouthing off when he made the threats.” Defence counsel Simon Freitag SC agreed Mr Beckerleg attacking Mr Reimers with the samurai sword was a “terrible overreaction” and agreed he went too far. However, Mr Freitag argued Mr Reimers was like a “Hollywood villain or monster” because he kept coming back and attacking Mr Beckerleg. “Mr Reimers was in a dangerous frame of mind,” he said. “He attacked Mr Beckerleg unprovoked – nobody said or did anything to provoke him.” Mr Freitage also submitted there were a “number of forces at work” inside Mr Beckerleg’s mind at the time of the incident and it would have been hard to judge if Mr Reimers truly intended to follow through with his threats. “He had been attacked, he had been injured and he was threatened with death by his friend of 37 years,” he said. “It would have been bewildering and mind-bending for Mr Beckerleg which added to his confusion, hurt and trauma. “Mr Beckerleg only responded in excessive self-defence after he was attacked twice.” The trial continues.