A man accused of murdering his boss in 1995 told police he had never argued with "the very likeable man" but had heard him screaming at his son.
Kubilay Kilincer said he and Hasan Dastan opened up the Sydney auto wreckers business on the morning of December 11, before he left for a few hours and returned to be told his boss had been killed.
"He was alright when I left," Kilincer said in a number of 1995 police interviews read or played to the jury in the NSW Supreme Court on Friday.
The 60-year-old has pleaded not guilty to the bashing murder of Mr Dastan, at his workshop Esy Auto Dismantlers in Blacktown.
He was found dead in a pool of blood lying partially underneath a car.
A metal pipe was shoved six centimetres into his mouth and his severe head injuries were consistent with an attack using a bloodied sledgehammer that lay nearby.
In a statement, a detective said he attended the workshop and saw the body.
He saw the owner's son Erkan Dastan outside and then saw a man he now knew to be Kilincer pull up in a car.
As Kilincer walked towards the premises, Erkan Dastan ran towards him shouting "you murderer" before he was restrained.
Kilincer told police he arrived at the business with the keys at 8.10am when he and his boss opened up the premises.
They had a chat before Mr Dastan went off for a short while and on his return Kilincer told him he was going and his boss said don't be too long.
Kilincer said he bought cigarettes, went to the bakery, went home to his wife and they both went to the Commonwealth Employment Service, Centrelink's predecessor, to find out about his missing a dole payment.
They were there for about two-and-a-half hours and his ticket number was N817, before he went back to the workshop.
He denied arguing with or fighting Mr Dastan, saying he was "a very good friend of mine, I respected him".
Asked if he knew of anyone who did not get on with his boss, he replied "his son".
While he never saw any punch-ups, he said he saw them screaming at each other.
"They have a lot of arguments and made threats against each other," he said.
Kilincer said he owed his father-in-law $15,000, cash which had been in a leather jacket left in a car which was stolen.
He agreed he took the Esy business takings of $500 from the Friday before the killing, but said he paid Mr Dastan back the money on the Saturday.
"He said next time, ask me."
He could not remember if someone gave him $1200 on the Saturday, being the balance of money paid for a car sold by Mr Dastan.
He agreed he rang Mr Dastan's home the night of the killing when the dead man's brother-in-law spoke to him.
He agreed he was told: "You must know something, you opened the door, you are the last person who saw the scene, you must know something".
Kilincer said he replied that he had not seen anything.
The brother-in-law also said "who would do such a thing" and "I hope you didn't do it". Kilincer replied no, before being told "when we find out who did it, we won't let him live".
The trial continues before Justice Helen Wilson.
