Two men found guilty of killing elderly man in meth-fueled burglary

Two men have been found guilty of killing an elderly man in his own home in Western Australia's South West during a meth-addled burglary for drugs.

Raymond Smith, 68, died during a home invasion in the town of Greenbushes, about 240 kilometres south of Perth, in December, 2023.

He was reported missing in the days after the home invasion and his body was eventually found by homicide detectives on the outskirts of the town almost a month later.

At a Supreme Court trial, James Terence Hunt, 33, has been found guilty of Mr Smith's murder, and Paul Douglas May, 43, guilty of his manslaughter.

Mr Smith lived alone in his Greenbushes home, where he grew marijuana which, the trial heard, was why he was targeted for burglary by Hunt, May and a third man, Kevin Allan Craig Potter.

The trio were methylamphetamine users and had injected drugs before the burglary.

'Weak-hearted scumbag'

Potter, a friend of Mr Smith's who admitted betraying him, was the key witness against Hunt and May.

The 37-year-old had described himself during the trial as a "weak-hearted scumbag."

"I betrayed his trust for the sake of a robbery for drugs," Potter told the court.

Hunt and May showed no reaction as the jury read out the verdicts.

They will face a sentencing hearing on June 15.

Victim tied up, stomped

Testifying to the court, Potter described how on the day of the killing, he was at Mr Smith's home when Hunt and May arrived at the back door with beanies covering their faces.

He said Hunt dragged his friend by the back of his hair to the bathroom where May hit him, before Hunt tied Mr Smith up with plastic wrap and stomped on his chest and neck.

"I stood back like a coward," Potter told the jury.

He said he felt panicked and frantic while "watching my mate have his life taken from him at the hands of James Hunt".

The burglary continued with the trio rummaging through Mr Smith's belongings and stealing cannabis, a laptop, casino chips and mementos.

Potter said while he personally did not harm Mr Smith, he knew he was responsible, and was trying do the right thing by him in court.

'Extreme force'

When Hunt took the stand, he denied he had been in charge of the burglary, claiming it was Potter's idea.

"Kevin wanted to do a job, he had an easy job," he told the court.

"Said there's weed there, gold."

Hunt claimed it was Potter who went to the bathroom with Mr Smith, while May's lawyer, Simon Freitag, told the jury Potter was a "proven liar".

He told the court violence was not in May's nature, and someone else had "lost the plot and lost their mind" in a random act of unnecessary violence.

But prosecutor Ben Stanwix said May knew the burglary was going to be volatile and had helped Hunt, who used "extreme force" in the bathroom.

Potter was desperate to do the right thing and "atone for what he had done", Mr Stanwix told the jury.