‘Drove him crazy’: man kills scooter rider over affair
Emily Woods |
A jealous man killed a former close friend after being driven “crazy” over his girlfriend’s affair with him.
Following his release from prison for an armed robbery, Shaun Baensch heard rumours about his girlfriend’s relationship with Bryce Trower.
He tried to chase Mr Trower, but the 31-year-old rode away on his e-scooter.
With his girlfriend seated next to him, Baensch returned on December 11, 2023, and followed Mr Trower down his street in the Geelong suburb of Norlane.
“Don’t be an idiot, just keep driving,” Baensch’s girlfriend told him, according to court documents.
He replied: “That’s Bryce, I should get out and hit him”.
Baensch then deliberately drove his Holden Rodeo ute into Mr Trower, who was riding a Segway Ninebot e-scooter near his home on Forster Street.
Mr Trower hit the windscreen, before being thrown seven metres into the air and landing on the road.
Baensch drove off as nearby residents came out to help Mr Trower, who was declared dead at the scene.
He was unlicensed and the Holden was still registered to its previous owner.
The next day Baensch removed parts from the ute to prevent it being identified and moved it to an associate’s residence who refused to have it stored at her home.
She asked a friend – who had no knowledge of the offending – to store it at her home in an unused garage.
When police found the Holden, in April 2024, the windscreen, front bumper, ladder racks, removable sides, toolbox and vehicle identification number had been removed.
In the weeks after Mr Trower was killed, Baensch lied to police and claimed he sold the Holden to a man named Jason Hart, whom investigators discovered died in November 2023.
Baensch joked to an associate about falling off a scooter, saying he had “done a Bryce”.
He tried to get friends to lie to police about the whereabouts of the Holden and told his girlfriend “if I get done … you’re getting done as an accomplice, so you’re just doing half as long as I do”.
He was finally arrested over Mr Trower’s death in May 2024.
Initially he lied to police again, telling officers Mr Trower had “fallen” in front of the Holden.
But when he was shown the evidence against him, Baensch admitted he drove to Forster Street hoping to come across the victim.
He said he wanted to assault Mr Trower and had previously chased him.
Baensch said he intended to knock the victim from his scooter over rumours he had a sexual relationship with his girlfriend.
“Not knowing if the rumours were true, drove him crazy,” a summary from Baensch’s police interview said.
The 30-year-old, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter and failing to stop in July, faced a pre-sentence hearing on Friday where Mr Trower’s family delivered statements about the impact of his death.
His father Eric said he visited his son’s grave every week to do word puzzles.
“If I knew what was going on, I would’ve taken him away to make him feel safe,” he said in a statement read to Melbourne’s Supreme Court.
Mr Trower’s sister Pauline said she had experienced “profound and relentless grief” and seeing e-scooters in public provided a “constant and distressing reminder of Bryce’s death”.
Baensch’s barrister Rahmin de Kretser said he became “completely paranoid” about his relationship and “incredibly jealous” after turning to drugs following his release from prison for an armed robbery.
He said Baensch had shown genuine remorse for the crime, and suffered anxiety, depression and substance abuse issues which would make his time in prison disproportionately harsher.
Baensch will return to court for his sentence at a later date.
AAP
