Two men are accused of pushing a man from a motorboat in Dorset following a drunken dispute
A young father was killed after two men pushed him from a motorboat and ran him over with the boat’s propeller, a court has heard.
Paul Gerlach, 52, and Louis Borzoni, 50, are currently on trial for the murder of Rico Dardis after his dismembered body was discovered off the coast of Christchurch Bay in May last year.
The two men allegedly pushed Mr Dardis from the Maxum cruiser after an argument on the Whitsun Bank Holiday Monday.
Prosecutor Michael Bowes described how the trio had been on a boozy day trip when Mr Dardis was “deliberately run over and killed”.
“Neither [Gerlach and Borzoni] did anything to call for help or anything of that nature. They made some efforts to recover the body parts and then allowed the boat to drift into the shore, which was seen by some people,” he added.
Mr Dardis’ body was found floating in the surf by police, while one of his legs was later found caught in the boat’s propeller.
Both defendants deny murdering the 30-year-old from Dorset, saying that the young father had been attacking them.
During his first interview with police, Mr Gerlach claimed that Mr Dardis had been punching Mr Borzoni and had fallen from the back of the boat after the argument ended and became entangled in the boat’s propeller.
A witness who was on the beach with her family described how she’d seen two men with a boat that had appeared to have broken down.
Brenda Pidgley said: “I thought it had broken down, there was no engine noise. It looked like they had blood on them, it looked like they had been fighting.”
Ms Pidgley also told the court that she could see something floating in the water but the two men weren’t paying any attention to it.
The trial continues.
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