Toowoomba man found guilty of murdering and dismembering neighbors before setting fire to house

A Toowoomba man who killed and dismembered his neighbor before setting fire to his house has been found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison.

WARNING: This story contains details that may be disturbing to some readers.

It took a Supreme Court jury two days to find 34-year-old Phillip Alister Harris guilty of the murder of 63-year-old Peter Weaver on December 15, 2019 in Toowoomba.

During the trial, the jury heard shocking details about how Harris stabbed Mr. Weaver 23 times with hunting knives and killed his dog at the victim’s Rivett Street home.

Harris then returned to his nearby home on MacArthur Street to retrieve a circular saw and fuel to dismember Mr. Weaver’s body and set fire to the victim’s home.

The killer also took a beer and a television from Mr. Weaver’s house.

Harris initially denied being at the victim’s home.

But after investigators showed him video footage of him at the crime scene, Harris told them he was drunk when he entered his neighbor’s house and, after seeing the body, began searching for a killer.

He said he set the house on fire because he touched several objects and later pleaded guilty to arson.

In her closing statement Wednesday, prosecutor Nicole Friedewald said Harris tried to destroy evidence and lied to police.

“An attempt, one might think, to distance oneself from the horrors that lurked on Rivett Street,” Ms Friedwald told the jury

“Maybe he thought he could talk his way out of it, maybe he thought he could fool the police.”

“Unhappiest man in the world”

The prosecution relied on witness statements, video footage from Harris’ home and car, and his interviews with investigators.

“Mr. Harris is either guilty of these crimes … or he is the unhappiest man in the world,” Ms. Friedewald said in her closing argument.

“When you bring together the combined force of all these parts… the irresistible, the overwhelming, the only reasonable conclusion is that Mr. Harris is not the unhappiest man in the world.”

“Rather, he is responsible for killing Mr. Weaver.”

Harris did not testify at the trial.

His defense team argued that other human DNA found at the crime scene cast doubt on the prosecution’s case.

Life in prison

At a sentencing hearing this afternoon, Harris also pleaded guilty to aggravated aggravated assault.

Judge Thomas Bradly told Harris his actions were evil.

“They took away a father, a grandfather and probably a great-grandfather,” he said.

“It was a cowardly attack on a man in his 60s… he posed no threat to you.”

Judge Bradly sentenced Harris to life in prison for murder, 12 months for killing the dog, seven years for arson, 18 months for grievous bodily harm and five years for interfering with a corpse.

Harris is eligible for parole after serving 20 years in prison.

He has already spent 1,811 days in custody.