Roughan is accused of repeatedly punching and stomping on the boy before using a knife to stab him 133 times. "The body was then dealt with in a barbaric way," prosecutor David Meredith said.

"The head of the deceased was sawed or chopped off and it was seperated and not buried with the body. "It appears on the face of it to be a thrill kill." Mr Meredith said Jones also told friends that Roughan used the head like a puppet and a bowling ball, which Roughan denied.

The court heard friends and neighbours of both Roughan and Jones would be called as witnesses in the trial and would tell the jury how the men, both of Sandgate, borrowed a car and then drove to Dayboro in Brisbane's north to bury Mr Shepherd's body in a shallow grave, before later burying him again. The court was told Roughan had already pleaded guilty to interfering with a corpse and being accessory after the fact to murder, but not guilty to murder.

However, prosecutors said the Crown would not accept the alternative charge because evidence would show Roughan was directly involved in the crime. He said former friends of the two men would give testimony that they had conversations in which Roughan was implicated in the murder and that a wound on the other man's hand was a result of Roughan accidently stabbing him while stabbing Mr Shepherd. Roughan has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge.

The trial is expected to finish late next week.