Man 'didn't mention killing wife to mate at first'

While drinking with his mate, Shaun Robert Sturgess didn't mention once that he had killed his wife with a sledgehammer earlier that day, a jury has heard.

It wasn't until the next afternoon that Sturgess finally told good friend John Artelli what had happened to his estranged spouse in April 2020.

Mother-of-two Jacqueline Sturgess, 45, was left lying face down in a pool of her own blood after her husband of 17 years "lost his s***" and hit her from behind with a 1.8kg sledgehammer, the jury heard.

Sturgess then disposed of the tool over the back fence and walked to the bottle shop, picking up some alcohol before getting a taxi to Mr Artelli's Rocklea residence.

Mr Artelli, 53, said when mate of 30 years Sturgess arrived unannounced they "started drinking and talking s***" before going to bed.

"Did he mention that night that he had killed his wife?," crown prosecutor Chris Cook said.

"Not that I can recall," Mr Artelli told Brisbane Supreme Court.

Ms Sturgess had separated from her husband and left the family home at Narangba north of Brisbane with their two daughters in February 2020.

When she returned in April to pick up property at the house, Sturgess "bludgeoned" her in a fit of rage after they had discussed child support payments, the jury was told.

Mr Artelli said he could tell Sturgess was not himself when he arrived later that day and his demeanour did not change when they got up and resumed drinking the next afternoon.

"I have known him for so long, he was really withdrawn and really quiet, he just wasn't with it 100 per cent," he said.

Mr Artelli told the court he kept pressing Sturgess by asking "what's up bro?"

"I was just saying 'what's going on, fill me in, I am trying to help you'," he said.

"He said 'no, there's no helping now bro. I f***ed everything up'.

"He said 'my parents are going to hate me, my brother and sister won't talk to me'."

Sturgess began telling him what had happened at the Narangba house, Mr Artelli said.

"He said she had come around and started on him again, he told her 'f*** off, leave me alone'," he said.

"She kept on going at him and so then he fed it to her. I just took that to mean he flogged her because he used to box."

Mr Cook then asked: "Did he say what happened?"

"Yeah, he said that he killed her," Mr Artelli replied.

"I said 'are you sure, should we go and check'. He said 'no man, she's dead bro'."

Mr Artelli urged Sturgess to "sort this s*** out".

"I was going to drive him to his parents or the police station the next morning when he decided what he wanted to do," Mr Artelli said.

However, police arrived at the Rocklea home after midnight and arrested Sturgess before he could make a decision.

Mr Artelli said Sturgess had gone "downhill" since injury had forced him to stop working as a fly in, fly out mines employee and became worse after separating from his wife.

After giving evidence Mr Artelli raised a fist in support to Sturgess as he left the courtroom.

"I love you bro. Ring me, ring me bro," Mr Artelli said.

Sturgess, 53, has pleaded not guilty to murder at the trial before Justice Melanie Hindman.

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