The shocking drug habit of alleged murderer Gregory John William Quartermaine

The shocking drug habit of alleged killer Gregory John William Quartermaine has been revealed on day four of a Supreme Court murder trial in Albany. Mr Quartermaine, 42, is alleged to have decapitated and dismembered 60-year-old family friend Wilfred Williams at a house on Garrity Street about midnight on August 4, while other people — including children — were inside. Defence counsel Bruno Illari is not contesting that his client killed Mr Williams, but is arguing he did not have the intent to commit murder because he was in a state of drug-induced psychosis. In the Albany Supreme Court today, Professor David Joyce presented evidence prepared from a toxicology report on Mr Quartermaine conducted at 2:15pm on August 4. It was found that 14 hours after the alleged murder, Mr Quartermaine had methamphetamine, amphetamine and cannabis in his system. Prof. Joyce, the head of pharmacology research at the University of WA, said the amount of meth in his system was “a lot higher than an occasional user”. His cannabis reading was “unusually high 14 hours later”,” Prof. Joyce said. He said the accused would have been in a “paranoid psychosis” where he formed suspicions about people that led to delusions and hallucinations which drove him to acts of violence. State prosecutor David Davidson said Mr Quartermaine had been a heavy meth user on and off since 2015. The accused said he was a daily user of meth, speed and cannabis, Mr Davidson told the court. Today, the court also saw footage of a chilling interview with homicide detectives conducted at 10:11pm on August 4, when Mr Quartermaine said: “that night, it wasn’t me”. He told police an evil person such as the “devil”, “Satan” or “black magic man” had tormented him and given him instructions to kill. “I’ll take the blame, it was my body that’s done it but it was somebody else,” he told police. After telling police he “deserved to die”, Mr Quartermaine proceeded to repeatedly bang his head on the table, forcing two police officers to restrain him in a corner of the interview room. During day four of the trial, Mr Davidson read several statements from witnesses who attended the scene in Tambellup in the early hours of August 4. Tambellup St John Ambulance volunteer Louise Cristinelli said that on entering the house to confirm the death of Mr Williams, she saw a lot of blood on the floor of the home. Her colleague noted: “He can’t be alive — he hasn't got his head”. Once Mr Quartermaine was transported to Katanning Police Station, a police officer said his pants and shoes were “blood-soaked”. The trial continues.