A farm worker has been found not guilty of murdering a Queensland grandfather after amputating his leg with a circular saw. A jury took less than three hours to find John Yalu, 41, not guilty of murdering Kalman Tal, 66, in February 2022 in Innisfail, Far North Queensland, but found him guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.
The Supreme Court trial in Cairns heard shocking allegations of how Tal spent years asking people to amputate his leg, claiming he suffered chronic pain linked to a workplace injury. Tal had also appealed to doctors to remove his leg, but they refused his request.
Prosecutors had earlier alleged that Yalu amputated Tal's left leg above the ankle using a battery-powered circular saw after agreeing to perform the procedure for a $5000 fee. Confronting CCTV footage was shown to jurors allegedly showing the moment the amputation took place and the aftermath of the amateur surgery. Jurors were also told attempts to stop the bleeding using sticky tape and plastic shopping bags as makeshift tourniquets were unsuccessful.
Kalman Tal died from blood loss after his lower leg was amputated above the ankle, jurors were told. The trial previously heard Tal collapsed while 'bleeding profusely' following the amputation, before crawling back towards his car. Jurors also heard Tal attempted to apply a tourniquet to himself before driving away from the park and contacting emergency services, but died from blood loss.
Defence barrister Angus Edwards said Tal had been 'shopping around' for someone willing to amputate the limb, saying Tal had repeatedly approached strangers asking for help because he was 'in pain' and believed 'nobody was helping him'. 'It was a debilitating pain, that lasted some four to five years and he couldn't get help for it,' he told jurors.
Jurors were told chilling details of Tal's death. Police established multiple crime scenes around the Innisfail esplanade as investigators pieced together the events leading to Tal's death in February 2022. Edwards, who previously represented convicted murderer Rajwinder Singh during his Toyah Cordingley murder trial, said Tal had openly told people: 'My leg is killing me, I'm having trouble walking, standing and the doctors won't do anything about it'.
Yalu admitted to manslaughter, and told the court he had urged Tal to go to the police, which Tal refused. Edwards said Tal organised almost every aspect of the encounter himself and directed parts of the process once the amputation began. He said Yalu believed he was helping relieve Tal's suffering rather than intending to seriously injure or kill him. Sentencing is scheduled to take place on Monday.
