The NT coroner has referred the suspected death of Larrimah man Paddy Moriarty to the Director of Public Prosecutions, saying his mysterious disappearance was likely the result of criminal offences.
Mr Moriarty, 70, was last seen when he left the town's Pink Panther pub with his red kelpie Kellie on the evening of December 16, 2017.
Despite extensive searches in the days following his disappearance, as well as the offer of a $250,000 reward, no trace of Mr Moriarty or his dog has ever been found.
After yesterday completing his inquest into Mr Moriarty's suspected death, coroner Greg Cavanagh this morning handed down his findings.
"In my opinion Paddy was killed in the context of and likely due to the ongoing feud he had with his nearest neighbours," the findings read.
"He likely died on the evening of 16 December 2017."
However, he said the cause of the 70-year-old's death "was not able to be determined".
Coroner's findings of the night Paddy disappeared
In his findings, Mr Cavanagh said on the night of December 16, 2017, Mr Moriarty rode home from the Pink Panther pub on his quad bike.
He then "put the mostly eaten chicken in the microwave, put his wallet on the table and his hat in its usual place, put the dog food in the dog's bowl and got his own meal out of the freezer", Mr Cavanagh wrote.
"He then went outside with his dog.
'Neighbourly tensions' before disappearance
Mr Cavanagh said a feud between Mr Moriarty and Ms Hodgett's "had been escalating".
The coroner today said in August 2017, Ms Hodgett called the police and alleged her plants "had been poisoned" and blamed Mr Moriarty and her ex-husband, but she had "no proof because her CCTV camera lines had been cut".
During yesterday's hearing, it was revealed police had secretly installed a listening device into the Larrimah residence of Owen Laurie about two weeks after Mr Moriarty's disappearance.
Mr Laurie had been employed in September 2017 as the live-in gardener of pie shop owner Fran Hodgetts, who had been in a decade-long dispute with Mr Moriarty.
The inquest previously heard Mr Laurie, who had been fully briefed about the neighbourly tensions, and had his own verbal altercation with Mr Moriarty about his dog several days before he went missing.
'I killerated old Paddy'
Counsel assisting the coroner Kelvin Currie played to the court eight scratchy audio segments of a man apparently speaking and singing to himself.
While the words were very difficult to discern, Mr Currie told the inquest that detectives had listened with headphones and believed Mr Laurie had allegedly said he had killed Mr Moriarty with a hammer.
"F***king idiots, yeah, tell them what I've done, hit with a f***ing hammer, tell them how I hit you with a f***ing hammer," he is alleged to have said in one of the recordings.
In another recording, captured between January and June 2018, Mr Laurie is alleged to have said:
"I killerated old Paddy. I f***ing killerated him… struck him on the head and killerated him … basherated him, doof, yes he did, basherated him."
Mr Laurie told the inquest he did not make the comments.
He then said he would not be responding to further questions and would exercise his right to remain silent to avoid potentially incriminating himself.
Mr Laurie previously told the inquest he had nothing to do with Mr Moriarty's disappearance.
During yesterday's hearing, Ms Hodgetts told the court she was not involved in Mr Moriarty's disappearance and rejected claims that she had offered to pay up to $10,000 for him to be killed by a hit man.
"I can tell you now, I never ever, ever, ever paid anybody to bump Paddy off," she said.
