Matthew Harley Gempton tells murder trial of Peter Nguyen-Ha his former friend fired fatal shots
A debt collector turned prosecution witness in a Perth murder trial has described how his former friend fired shots into a suburban home, killing an innocent man.
Peter Nguyen-Ha is on trial, accused of murdering Ralph Matthews Cox, who was shot dead through the bedroom window of his Landsdale home in January 2022.
The court had heard that Mr Nguyen-Ha and Matthew Harley Gempton had gone to the home looking for another man over stolen money.
Gempton, who has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Matthews Cox, has taken the stand to give evidence for the prosecution in return for a reduced sentence.
Gempton told the WA Supreme Court Mr Nguyen-Ha loaded a shotgun when they were driving to Landsdale, assuring him they were only "salt rounds".
The court heard that when they arrived Mr Nguyen-Ha walked to the house, wearing a mask and carrying the shotgun.
He told the court he heard someone say "who turned the power off" and "who's out the front".
Gempton told the court Mr Nguyen-Ha called out "where's Anthony Prior" and then fired three times.
He said he then heard a woman scream.
He described the third shot as "definitely louder" than the others and said he saw "a big flame that lit up the front of the house".
He told the court that when Mr Nguyen-Ha got back into the car, he said he "just shot at the window, the corner of the window" to scare them.
Gempton maintained he did not find out until later that someone had died, when he saw it on the news.
Police had said Mr Cox, who suffered fatal injuries in the shooting, had no involvement with crime and was an innocent victim.
Gempton was a debt collector for drug money, telling the court he used to drive Mr Nguyen-Ha around in return for money and meth.
The 36-year-old said he had been using methylamphetamine "more than once a day".
He also told how he came to shoot himself in the leg after Mr Nguyen-Ha was assaulted, and had tens of thousands of dollars stolen in December 2021.
He said he was driving someone else's car, searching for Mr Nguyen-Ha, who had asked him to go to a 7-Eleven in Wangara.
Gempton said he looked around inside the vehicle for a weapon and found a rifle he did not know was there.
"Pulled it out and sat it on my lap, and it went off," Gempton said.
"Scorched all the nerve endings on one side.
"Just pissing out blood on one side."
He went to Joondalup Hospital, where he was interviewed by police but lied to them, claiming he was shot by a bikie.
Gempton denied firing any guns on the night of the Landsdale shooting, or in earlier incidents in Girrawheen and Wanneroo which took place days earlier.
In these, he and others, including Peter Nguyen-Ha, had allegedly targeted the wrong homes looking for Anthony Prior.
Prosecutor Beau Sertorio asked Gempton why he had pleaded guilty to manslaughter and other charges if he had never actually fired a weapon.
The 36-year-old said he still "had a role to play", saying he did not call police after the first shooting at Girrawheen.
He told the court that initially, he "thought it was just going to be a fight with Anthony Prior" and following that he "got told to go" to the other scenes.
At Wanneroo and Landsdale he was "just driving", he said.
The court heard Gempton's sentence was cut by more than five years and nine months, to 12 years, and he could be re-sentenced if he did not give full and truthful evidence.
He is due to be cross-examined on Monday.
The trial continues.
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