A man accused of attempting to murder his ex-girlfriend has told a Queensland jury that he only bought a hatchet to force her into speaking to him again.
Former security guard Cameron Turgay Bardak, 31, spent three hours testifying on Friday during his trial in Brisbane Supreme Court on the count of attempt to murder Maria Buci, 30, by striking her with the hatchet and choking her.
Bardak had pleaded guilty to an alternate charge of causing grievous bodily harm to Buci.
While questioned by his barrister, Matthew Hynes, Bardak said July 1, 2020 was the “stupidest day in my life” because he bought a hatchet to threaten Buci in the event that she did not agree to talk about resuming their relationship.
“I saw the axe as a good coercive measure if she chose not to comply,” Bardak told the jury.
Bardak said intentions to kill or hurt Buci “never crossed my mind”, though he admitted he did end up hitting her on the hand and shoulder with the weapon.
Buci had met Bardak that day for lunch and he ended the relationship, with Buci returning to her work at a law firm in central Brisbane.
Bardak testified that he realised he had made a hasty decision and thought he could reconcile with her if they spoke in person at 5pm.
“I didn’t want her to stew on it. In the past that went badly for me. This was a Band-Aid to get our relationship through the night,” Bardak said.
Hynes ran through pages of profane and insulting messages Bardak exchanged with Buci before the attack, which included him saying his “life was over”.
“It was about gaining sympathy for manipulation. A kind of ‘look what you made me do’ situation. It was coercive,” Bardak said.
Bardak said he waited for Buci to walk to her car then told her to walk up to the next level to his own vehicle.
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She refused and he grabbed her by the arm, but she started screaming and would not stop when he put his hand over her mouth or showed her the hatchet.
After he hit bystander David Sturgess on the hand with “six out of 10” force, Bardak said he put both his hands on Buci’s throat.
“With enough (force) to stop her screaming. I’ve never strangled anyone before. I was just winging it,” Bardak said.
Under cross-examination by crown prosecutor Chris Cook, Bardak denied he planned a “cowardly murder-suicide” after Buci rejected his demands for forgiveness.
Cook showed Bardak a bystander’s iPhone video of the attack which depicted Bardak on top of Buci with both hands on her neck.
“This is you wanting to reconcile the relationship? You were thinking about going to tennis with her on Friday?” Cook asked.
“I wanted to get her to my car,” Bardak said.
He denied he acted like a “robot” with the sole focus of killing Buci while ignoring punches to his head and kidneys from good Samaritans.
“You can’t play tennis with a pile of bones, you can’t plan with someone who’s dead,” Bardak said.
The trial continues on Tuesday.
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