The brother of a man allegedly gunned down by the owner of a neighbouring farm has revealed what they spoke about as they drove to an early morning meeting with him at their boundary line.
Ross Tighe and his brother Graham arrived at the front gate of the cattle property at Bogie in the Whitsundays region of Far North Queensland about 8am on August 4, 2022 where they found neighbour Darryl Valroy Young already waiting.
Minutes later the brothers’ mother Maree Schwarz and stepfather Mervyn Schwarz also arrived to the gathering which Mr Young, 59, had called the evening before – with Ross the only member of his family who would leave alive.
In a committal hearing for Mr Young, who is charged with three counts of murder, in Mackay Magistrates Court this week Mr Tighe said he and his brother spent some of the 20-minute drive to the fence-line discussing whether they should be armed.
‘I do remember saying ”F*** we’ve got no gun”,’ Mr Tighe told the court, reported The Daily Mercury.
He said his brother replied ‘Yeah f***’ but that they were both relaxed and did not turn around.
When Mr Young’s barrister asked whether his client was visibly holding a gun, Mr Tighe replied he was sitting in the driver’s seat of his car with the door open and he did not see one at that stage.
They had brought a key they’d borrowed to use a road on the neighbour’s property but rather than getting out and taking it, Mr Young told them to hang it on the fence, which Mr Tighe said prompted him to think: ‘What the f***’s the d***head doing?’, the hearing was told.
Mr Tighe said his brother hung the key up but was not visibly angry and told the court, up until that day, he did not have any disputes with Mr Young.
When his mother and stepfather arrived, he told the court Mr Young got out of his car but refused to shake his stepfather’s hand.
Police allege Mr Young pulled out a gun and shot all four members of the Schwarz-Tighe family, leaving Ross with a bullet wound to the stomach.
Despite his injuries, Mr Tighe miraculously escaped by jumping into a car and driving 40 kilometres to another property to alert police, who rushed to the scene in search of the three other alleged victims and gunman.
Queensland Police locked down the area after his call and found Mervyn, 71, Maree, 59, and Graham, 35, dead on the Shannonvale Road property a few hours later.
Maree Schwarz’s brother-in-law Greg Austen, a councillor on the Isaac Regional Council, previously told Daily Mail his nephew-in-law showed incredible courage.
‘Ross has two girls… he is a very strong young man.
‘To witness what unfolded in front of him and then to be able to walk back to the car shows real resilience, and I’m sure he won’t forget it for the rest of his life.’
He was airlifted to Mackay Hospital where he underwent surgery and recovered in the ICU.
Mr Young is in custody on remand and is yet to provide a plea.