Less than a week into his murder trial, Robert Joseph Patard has admitted to murdering a man in broad daylight in an Adelaide park.
Shaun Russell, 36, was walking home through Adelaide's Hackham West Reserve after watching some of the AFL grand final at a friend's house in September 2019 when he was beaten with such a degree of force that it fractured his skull.
Appearing in the South Australian Supreme Court last week, Robert Joseph Patard, 45, pleaded not guilty to Mr Russell's murder, claiming he had acted in self-defence.
But less than a week into the trial, he changed his plea to guilty.
Victim 'simply in the wrong place'
Last week, prosecutor Jemma Litster told the jury that Mr Patard was in a "volatile and angry state" after arguing with his partner for most of the day in the Hackham West Reserve.
Ms Litster told the court that Mr Patard "simply erupted" when Mr Russell walked towards the couple, pulling up a large wooden garden stake and beating him with it at least three times.
"[Mr Patard] quite deliberately, and aggressively, went on the offensive against Mr Russell."
The court heard Mr Patard and his partner had been arguing aggressively in the park for most of the day.
The case returns to court next week.
