A man has been convicted of murder after attacking a romantic rival and discarding his body in a river, following a falling-out over a shared love interest.
The court was informed that Palmer had given his ex-wife, Renny, an ultimatum to choose between him and the victim, Baziad. Renny ultimately chose her former husband, Palmer.
The victim was brutally assaulted with a patterned glass object and subsequently stabbed multiple times in the torso, side, and back at his Sydney apartment in February 2004.
Following the incident, Baziad, who is now 54 years old, fled the country and maintained contact with Palmer for several months.
He was apprehended in 2024, but he denied any involvement in the murder.
Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield, SC, explained to the jury that Jason and Renny Palmer had married in 1996 but separated in 2002 after Jason’s infidelity.
In late 2002, she began an intimate relationship with Baziad.
Despite this history, the two men became friends.
In December 2003, the trio met to discuss the situation and Renny was asked to choose between the two men.
When she opted for former husband, Baziad indicated he accepted the decision, the court heard.
But months later, Jason was seen for the last time walking out of his partner’s home in Sydney’s south-west with Baziad.
His body was found just over three weeks later concealed in a sleeping bag and weighed down with rocks in the Nepean River, in the city’s west.
In the days after her ex-husband disappeared, Palmer said she made numerous attempts to find him, even calling his drug dealer.
She also tried speaking to one of her husband’s friends, called his parents in England and filed a missing person’s report with police.
She broke down in tears in the witness box while describing her efforts to locate her ex-husband.
Renny said Baziad had been late collecting her for work the day after the murder.
Baziad’s barrister argued there was not enough evidence to convict her client because there were no eyewitnesses and the case was circumstantial.
“You won’t be able to be positively satisfied of the ultimate question: has the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that Baziad was the person responsible?” Madeleine Avenell SC told the jury.
But the jurors took just over a week to conclude Baziad was ultimately responsible for Mr Palmer’s violent death.
Justice Phillip Boulten thanked the jury for their service on Wednesday before convicting Baziad.
He will return to court for sentencing on July 17.
