Shotgun at his side, Dale Stone nursed a can of Wild Turkey and a long-standing grudge against his neighbours as he awaited their return home.

Stone had laughed as he watched Wayne Binse and Jenelle Jones leave their home in Deer Park, in Melbourne's west, on the morning of December 13, 2017, and in the hours they were gone threw bricks through their windows and closed their front gates.

Dale Stone has admitted murdering Wayne Binse. Credit:Nine News

Months of tension had built up over a caravan and then a car parked on Mr Binse’s nature strip, that Stone thought hindered him when he drove out of his driveway. The neighbourhood dispute was about to end in a fatal ambush.

About 2pm, when the couple arrived back at their Poole Street home, Ms Jones got out of their car to open the gates and Mr Binse saw Stone advancing with shotgun over his shoulder.