Cedric and Noelene Jordan have been on trial since April for the murder of their former son-in-law, Shane Barker, in 2009Barely one thousand people live in Campbell Town, a highway thoroughfare in Tasmania's Northern Midlands.
There would be a $250,000 reward on offer, then the largest in Tasmania Police's history, but it would yield no immediate answers. Rachel and Mr Barker got divorced in 2007, after which Mr Coates said the relationship between the pair turned "toxic" and "descended into deep acrimony".Many of these concerns were in the form of diary entries, excerpts of which were read out to the jury.She testified she was very close with her parents and often spoke to her mother about the problems she was having.
"It's a big step from saying you don't like your ex to saying you hate him so much your parents would kill him for you," she told the court. Ballistics expert Sergeant Gerard Dutton testified that based on forensic examination, the bullets found in Mr Barker's body were fired from a 22-calibre firearm, likely a rifle, with a right twist but he couldn't narrow it down any further.
Rachel's boyfriend at the time of Mr Barker's death testified Cedric Jordan test-fired such a gun in front of him and said it "would be a good gun to kill someone with".