A lover scorned is a deadly thing. John Charles Quail, 63, was convicted of murdering his lover’s ex-husband this week by shooting him and proceeding to run him down in his car.
His target, grandfather Steve Ridis, 70, had no chance to escape.
Quail was quoted as saying “You will die, you bastard” to Mr Ridis before he fired five shots at him. He then ran over him twice before he fled the scene.
The jury didn’t take long to sentence the man.
The trial, before Justice Paul Coghlan, heard that the pair had been involved in long-running legal disputes since Quail had begun an affair with Mr Ridis’ wife, Fay, in 2009.
Mr Ridis had been locking the gates of his Tarmac Drive workplace just after 8:00 pm when Quail approached and threatened him.
The jury heard Quail then allegedly produced a Ruger .22 calibre pistol with a silencer and fired five shots, one of which struck Mr Ridis.
“Mr Ridis begged for his life and managed to grab and bite Quail’s hand … biting his finger to the bone and wrestling the gun from the accused,” prosecutor Ray Gibson said.
“Mr Ridis clubbed Quail in the head with the gun and then managed to stand up and walk away.”
The court heard that as Mr Ridis staggered across the road to help, Quail returned to the white 1990 Holden Commodore he had bought under a false name three weeks earlier.
“He accelerated at Mr Ridis and knocked him over,” Mr Gibson said, “and as Mr Ridis lay on the roadway, Quail did a lap of the court, lined up Mr Ridis and ran him over.”
He said Quail then drove the car to Melbourne Airport and left it in the long-term car park. He sought medical treatment at Northern Hospital for injuries to his head and finger two hours after the shooting.
Quail pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and the alternative charge of intentionally causing serious injury.
Outside court, Mr Ridis said he was glad the ordeal was finally over after 16 months and said it could have been much worse.
“I could have been killed had he have succeeded and my children would be without a father so even though I’m not 100 per cent I’m still alive.”
Source: The Age