A man who shot dead another man after luring him into a car for a supposed drug deal has been found guilty of murder.
A Victorian Supreme Court jury spent almost three hours deliberating on March 25 before handing down its verdict against Duc Nguyen.
The 44-year-old and his girlfriend had organised to meet Brian Laidlaw outside a Melbourne public housing building for a drug deal on July 12, 2022.
The pair had borrowed a friend’s Audi but swapped the number plates to a pair of stolen ones before driving to the Fitzroy address.
CCTV footage played to jury showed Mr. Laidlaw walking up to Mr. Nguyen’s car shortly after 4pm and getting into the front passenger seat.
Minutes pass before the footage shows Mr. Laidlaw running out of the vehicle and then collapsing onto the street.
Mr. Nguyen, who was seated in the back seat, had shot Mr. Laidlaw in the right shoulder, with the bullet passing through two major arteries.
After the shooting, Mr. Nguyen and his girlfriend went to an associate’s house in Balwyn where they dumped the .22 calibre revolver and remaining five bullets.
At the start of his murder trial, Mr. Nguyen formally entered a guilty plea to the charge of manslaughter.
His barrister Amelia Beech told the jury Mr. Nguyen had taken responsibility for the unintentional killing of Mr Laidlaw, but he denied there was murderous intent.
The jury rejected that proposition, instead finding him guilty of murder.
Mr. Nguyen will return to the Supreme Court in June for a pre-sentencing hearing.
