Murder-accused Vernon Simons blamed teenage co-defendant Kyle Sousa for killing Matthew Clarke alleging he committed the crime on a promise of $1,000.

Simons, 24, claimed third defendant Shannon Tucker put up the money for the hit because he was angry Mr. Clarke framed him over drug importation.

And, claimed Simons on the Supreme Court witness stand yesterday, he actually stepped in to try to save the victim until 18-year-old Sousa turned on him and he fled.

The trio are all alleged by prosecutors to have participated in the slaying of songwriter Mr. Clarke, 31, who was found dead in his bed on the afternoon of April 9 last year.

He had been stabbed 26 times and battered in the head with a metal bar.

Tucker, 32, and Sousa are currently facing separate charges of drug importation. Sousa said during testimony earlier this week the pair believed Mr. Clarke was the one responsible for the cannabis and ecstasy in question, found by a Police sniffer dog in machine parts shipped to Tucker from the US.

Sousa said he witnessed Tucker and Simons killing Mr. Clarke, claiming they acted in anger at being framed by him over the drug matter.

However, taking the stand yesterday, Simons denied bearing any grudge against the victim.

"I don't blame anybody. That was all on Shannon. Nothing to do with me," he insisted.

Simons said he'd visited Mr. Clarke with his construction-company employer Tucker on the afternoon in question.

They arrived in Tucker's blue work truck, having dropped Sousa off at a bus stop en-route to Mr. Clarke's home in North Shore Road, Pembroke.

He claimed that during the visit: "Matthew offered me $100,000 to take the fall for some drugs that was put into some parts that belonged to Shannon, that Shannon got caught with... $100,000 to actually come to court and say that the drugs belonged to me."

Simons said he declined, because he was trying to keep out of trouble but as he and Tucker left Mr. Clarke's house he saw a masked man jump over the wall into the yard and enter the house. A commotion ensued, with Simons initially telling Tucker they should get out of there but then going back into the house to see what was happening. "When I stepped into the room I actually tried to save Matthew's life because I saw the person attacking him."

He said he did not recognise the assailant to be Sousa at the time: "I did try to pull the attacker off of Matthew. They swung around towards me. Right after that I just ran out of the room. I basically ran to the truck to Shannon and said we guys had to leave now."

Simons claimed he then saw the attacker run out of the bedroom with his shirt off, and through the gate.

"At that time I saw the person's face and it was Kyle Sousa. He basically brushed across me and jumped into the truck and I was just frightened from what I had witnessed Kyle doing. I just basically kept my mouth shut because he had a deranged look in his eyes."

Simons said Sousa jumped into the truck with them and Tucker drove back to his (Simons') home in North Street, Pembroke, where he showered "to try to bring myself back around" from the violence he'd witnessed. When he later found a metal bar in his yard, he put it in a bag and took it to nearby Dellwood School where he threw it in a pool followed, uninvited, by Sousa.

Asked by his lawyer Larry Scott why he'd thrown the item away, Simons replied: "I had witnessed Kyle do an unlawful act that I had never seen in my life and I was terrified and I wasn't thinking straight. I didn't want it on my premises at all."

He also denied any part in importing the drug supposedly brought in on Tucker's behalf, saying it was unfortunate they'd been on the same flight to the US prior to that incident. He claimed he'd been aware of an arrangement between Tucker and Sousa where the former offered the latter $1,000 for a job. He initially thought this was for construction work.

However Simons said that after witnessing the slaying and Tucker's prior displeasure over his drug arrest he now believed "Shannon set up for Matthew to have his life taken because he got caught for drugs".

He denied having any role in the killing, telling Mr. Scott he didn't know Mr. Clarke well at all and "I never knew him well enough to hate him".