Four years to the day after Andrew Wright Stephens was killed in his home, a man has been found guilty of his manslaughter.
But Michael Bradley Small was found not guilty of murdering his partner’s friend on August 30, 2020.
Police attended Stephens’ Taringa home to carry out a welfare check after he failed to respond to calls from his mother.
The decomposed body of 48-year-old Stephens was found at his Taringa home, in inner Brisbane, on September 3 that year.
During the two-week Brisbane Supreme Court trial, prosecutors said Stephens’ torture and murder was a “fairytale ending” for Small after eight months of growing hostility.
After deliberating for about six hours, a jury on Friday found Small not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.
The court heard Small, an escort, disliked Stephens for interfering in the 37-year-old’s relationship with Scott Richard Gordon.
The Crown alleged Stephens let Gordon into his house in the early hours of August 30, with Small entering separately.
Small was accused of struggling with a naked Stephens and taping his mouth.
Police who did a welfare check after Stephens failed to respond to calls from his mother found his decomposed body covered in a blanket, with a pink sex toy nearby.
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