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Accused murder's Darwin motel rampage

Aaron BunchAAP
Benjamin Glenn Hoffmann is standing trial on four counts of murder and other related charges.
Camera IconBenjamin Glenn Hoffmann is standing trial on four counts of murder and other related charges. Credit: AAP

Shiftworker Wayhu Santosa was dozing in his room at the Palms Motel after an early morning start when the gunman accused of murdering four people in Darwin allegedly fired his first shot.

"I heard a bang, I thought it was like an earthquake," he told Benjamin Glenn Hoffmann's murder trial in the Northern Territory Supreme Court on Wednesday.

"I saw dust falling from the roof."

At a nearby apartment building, Joseph Puntoriero thought the bangs at the motel late in the afternoon of June 4, 2019 were fireworks.

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He moved out onto his balcony and began filming on his mobile phone, later telling police he saw a man with a shotgun.

"I heard another couple of large bangs and glass smashing," he said.

Inside the motel, Mr Santosa cautiously opened the door to his room in the caretaker's residence.

"There was someone in front of the door with a gun ... a man," he said.

"I stepped back because I was scared and not sure what was happening."

The man was allegedly Hoffmann, 47.

Mr Santosa said he looked "mad and furious".

"He stayed for a few seconds before he left to check another room," he said.

"I heard more bangs. I think he was in Hassan's bedroom."

Hoffman allegedly then returned to Mr Santosa's room and asked about a man named Alex Deligiannis.

Mr Santosa said he didn't know before texting his roommate and the man the Crown says Hoffman had already murdered, Hassan Baydoun, 33.

The court has heard Hoffmann was high on drugs and searching for a woman he believed was his girlfriend, Kellie Collins.

She and Mr Deligiannis had been romantically linked, as had Ms Collins and Hoffmann.

In room 15, Damita Jerome was asleep with her boyfriend Cameron Elhing when she heard banging at their door.

Mr Elhing jumped up and opened the door before shutting it and running to Ms Jerome.

"He told me to get on the ground and that there was a man at the door with a gun," she said.

"I thought he was pranking me."

Ms Jerome said Mr Elhing then pushed her off the bed and used his body as a "human shield" to protect her.

She said she heard glass shattering but later realised it was the sound of bullets ricocheting off the walls in the room.

"It sounded like fireworks. At least three or four shots before (Hoffmann) tried forcing his way in," she said.

Prosecutor Lloyd Babb previously told the court Hoffmann entered the room and pointed his gun at Mr Elhing.

"He sounded very aggressive and very determined to get what he wanted," Ms Jerome said of Hoffmann as she fought back tears.

Hoffman then allegedly said "you're f***ing lucky" before leaving.

From his balcony, Mr Puntoriero later spotted Mr Elhing carrying an injured Ms Jerome down the street away from the motel.

She'd been shot in the legs and was later rushed to hospital, where a surgeon removed three bullets.

Earlier, Carol Robinson told the jury Hoffmann tried to run her down with his ute about 90 minutes before he arrived at the Palms Motel.

Hoffmann on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to four counts of murder and 10 other serious charges, including threatening to kill and recklessly endangering the lives of other people he came across during the afternoon of June 4.

His other alleged victims are Nigel Hellings, 75, Michael Sisois, 57, and Rob Courtney, 52.

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