Lawyers for the family of Broome man, Joshua Warneke, have requested an additional witness to give evidence at his inquest - a man who allegedly previously confessed to killing him. The inquest into the 21 year-old's death was told the man's evidence was of significant interest, even though he'd also previously denied being involved in his death.
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00:00The last day of hearings in Broome heard witnesses recounting Joshua Warnocky's final moments
00:08before his death in February 2010.
00:12One witness told the court Josh was celebrating being alive in his final hours after a recent
00:18car accident.
00:19They spoke of his cheerful personality.
00:21Of course they're going to say that he was, he's just a beautiful young man.
00:27His personality, his disposition, his kindness, yeah, so he doesn't surprise me, yeah, so
00:34fills me with grace.
00:36The lawyer representing Mr Warnocky's family, Tom Percy, KC, is asking for another witness
00:42to appear at the inquest, a man who allegedly confessed to killing Mr Warnocky to another
00:47person.
00:48Mr Percy told the inquest the man, who the ABC cannot name for legal reasons, was of
00:53significant interest.
00:55He said he had not provided an alibi and police had not been able to eliminate him
01:00as a person of interest.
01:02Coroner Ros Filiani raised concerns about calling a witness in relation to a suspected
01:07homicide and if hypothetically a confession was to be made in the court.
01:12Mr Warnocky's mother says it could potentially change the direction of the inquest.
01:17I would support any new evidence coming into the court that is going to provide conceivable
01:25evidence to suggest how Josh died.
01:28The coroner has reserved her decision on whether to call the new witness.
01:32The inquest will now move to Perth, with testimony expected from police and forensic investigators.