Walcha murder trial: jury hears helium used to gas Mathew Dunbar was ordered for an 'event'

Emma Worrell, now Johnson, had only worked at the Tamworth store for a few weeks when she allegedly received a phone call from murder-accused Natasha Darcy who ordered a bottle of helium under the guise it was for a Northern Daily Leader (NDL) event.

"She did tell me her name but I can't recall, I'm pretty sure she told me that she was from the NDL," she said.

"She wanted a 3.5 cubic-metre helium tank for an event she was holding, she said she needed it to be high purity.

"I had only been there a couple of weeks, I spoke to my colleague Kerry and she informed me that we don't sell high purity - we don't sell high purity we just sell balloon grade.

"She mentioned it multiple times."

A jury heard Mr Dunbar picked up the helium tank and said it was for him.

He was found dead in his bedroom on the night of August 1 with a plastic bag over his head connected to the helium tank by a tube.

Darcy has pleaded not guilty to murder, she is accused of murdering Mr Dunbar at his property 'Pandora' by sedating and gassing him.

Local paramedic Marion Schaap is a witness in the case and took the stand on Friday.

Ms Shaap told a jury that when she arrived at Mr Dunbar's property in 2017, Darcy was performing cardiac compressions.

In her initial report she noted the patient was still warm to touch but his extremities were blue.

"We didn't give any shocks with the defibrillator because he wasn't in a cardiac rhythm that could be fibrillated," she said. "It was asystole, which is a flat line."

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Ms Shaap noted in her report that at the time, Darcy made the comment, "He's still warm, that's a good sign isn't it?"

The court has heard previously that Walcha man Colin Crossman was one of the first paramedics on the scene, along with local SES volunteers.

An old friend of Mr Dunbar, Stuart David Wellings, also gave evidence at the trial on Friday.

He told a jury that Mr Dunbar had expressed to him that he was facing some financial difficulties in the weeks before his death.

The trial will resume on Monday.

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