The simple acts of setting the table for a meal or catching a glimpse of a set of fishing rods can reduce Suzanne Magowan to tears as she remembers the many meals she shared with her son.
Nearly three years after Paul Davy, 43, was fatally shot during an argument over a dog, his mother says she is still waiting for him to return home.
“I still cook for him,” she wrote in a victim impact statement read to the NSW Supreme Court on Monday.
The father-of-one was shot in the chest by Luke Willcockson on the doorstep of a home in Kendall on the NSW mid-north coast in November 2023.
Willcockson, now 40, was found guilty of murder by a jury in February following a weeks-long trial.
At a sentencing hearing on Monday, Mr Davy’s family laid bare the inescapable pain his murderer had caused them.
“You took my friend, my love, my singing and dancing partner, my fishing partner,” Ms Magowan wrote in her statement.
“It is so hard to even say his name without crying”.
Mr Davy’s sister Dona said her mother became frail almost overnight as a result of the “unspeakable loss of Paul”.
Mr Davy had been “a character” who shared his talents with his family and taught his sister how to swim, play guitar, and fish.
“(He was) one of the funniest people ever to lighten anyone’s mood or brighten everyone’s day,” his sister recalled as her voice broke.
“I still need him every day.”
In his own address to the court, Willcockson expressed his “deepest and most heartfelt condolences” to Mr Davy’s loved ones.
“I’m truly sorry for the pain, grief and suffering I have caused,” he read.
“I never intended for Paul to be seriously hurt or lose his life.”
But crown prosecutor Carl Young questioned how he could say he accepts full responsibility for his actions when he denies having any intention to hurt Mr Davy.
“I’m taking responsibility for the gun going off accidentally,” the 40-year-old replied.
His insistence that the shooting was accidental is inconsistent with the jury’s guilty verdict and Willcockson’s own argument that he was provoked by Mr Davy, Acting Justice Ian Harrison noted.
CCTV footage shows Willcockson arriving at a home in Kendall with a dog before Mr Davy appears minutes later to demand it be returned to its owner.
When Willcockson raised a gun at him, a witness had described Mr Davy “egging him on” by saying “You won’t shoot me”.
Willcockson’s barrister David Stewart contended his client had intended to cause grievous bodily harm rather than kill.
He stressed the incident had unfolded suddenly, while Willcockson was under the influence of drugs.
Willcockson will be sentenced on Thursday.
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