Robert Palmer's family believe he was thinking of his beloved Shortland community when he decided to have a go at a man who had just held up a service station on Sandgate Road on a night in December, 2020.
He had no idea, but the man he stopped to argue with was heavily armed and suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and that decision would ultimately end up costing Mr Palmer his life.
On Tuesday, after a judge-alone trial in Newcastle Supreme Court, Justice Stephen Campbell found Mr Palmer's killer, Zack Mavin, did not know what he was doing was wrong when he attempted to hold up the service station and then fatally stabbed Mr Palmer, a well-known Shortland local.
Justice Campbell delivered special verdicts of "act proven but not criminally responsible" to charges of attempted armed robbery and murder, finding Mavin had "no appreciation of the wrongfulness of his actions" and was suffering from a mental health impairment on the night of December 12, 2020.
The verdicts mean Mavin will be referred to the Mental Health Review Tribunal and detained as a forensic patient until he is no longer a danger to the community.
After the verdicts, Mr Palmer's sisters read moving victim impact statements, saying the 54-year-old was beloved in Shortland and volunteered at the rugby league club, where the oval had since been renamed in his honour.
"I believe our dear Bob was thinking of his community on that fateful night," Mr Palmer's sister, Helen, said.
They said Mr Palmer had once saved his mother's life by performing CPR and was looking forward to spending Christmas with his children before he was killed.
There was no dispute during the trial that Mavin had tried to hold up the 7/11 service station on Sandgate Road at Shortland about 8pm on December 12, 2020, and then, a few minutes later, had stabbed Mr Palmer during an argument and struggle outside the nearby Metro service station.
And there was also no dispute between medical experts that Mavin was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia on the night of the stabbing.
But the issue for Justice Campbell to determine was whether that impairment had the effect that Mavin did not know what he was doing was wrong and therefore had available to him a defence of mental health impairment.
When the attendant asked for money, Mavin mixed the contents of two bottles, shook one of the bottles and threw it at the counter, but it bounced back towards him and later started a small fire.
Mavin then left and walked towards the Metro service station, a few hundred metres away down Sandgate Road.
Meanwhile, Mr Palmer was taking his daughter's dog for a walk and was headed to the service station to buy coffee and cigarettes.
He was walking to the 7/11, but was told by someone about the armed robbery and turned around and started heading towards the Metro where he would ultimately come into contact with Mavin, a stranger to him, and be stabbed to death.
CCTV footage captured the pair speaking for about a minute and witnesses later said they thought they were arguing.
Mavin then slashed at Mr Palmer as he backed away, but the pair separated and Mavin was walking away.
But something was said and Mavin returned, walking aggressively towards Mr Palmer as he backed away.
The pair came together and punched each other before Mavin produced a large kitchen knife and again advanced aggressively, slashing at Mr Palmer, before stabbing him once.
Mavin was arrested at a home nearby and had to be tasered and later capsicum sprayed by police.
During an interview with police, Mavin argued he was acting in self-defence and claimed it was "manslaughter, not murder".
When told of Mr Palmer's death he replied: "No remorse".
Justice Campbell said Mavin was the aggressor and "initiated and escalated the violence" that led to Mr Palmer's death and those comments showed he had "no real appreciation for the wrongfulness of his conduct" and the belief that he was acting in self-defence was a product of his psychosis.
To see more stories and read today's paper download the Newcastle Herald news app here.
