Bradley Bell pleads not guilty in murder of Kelly Wilkinson, who is accused of aiding and abetting her husband

A man accused of being involved in the death of Gold Coast woman Kelly Wilkinson told police he knew her killer wanted to “tie her up and burn her” before driving him to her home, a jury heard.

Warning: This story contains graphic details and images.

On Monday, Bradley Bell pleaded not guilty to the murder of the 27-year-old on the first day of his trial in the Supreme Court in Brisbane.

In April 2021, the jury heard that Mr Bell's colleague Brian Johnston, who was also Ms Wilkinson's husband, had repeatedly stabbed her before setting her on fire in her Arundel home.

Prosecutor David Nardone told the jury that Bell was “not the man who actually caused the death” but was on trial. as an accomplice to Johnston's crime because he allegedly helped him.

“The prosecution alleges that he aided and abetted Brian Johnston and enabled him to commit the murder,” he said.

Mr Nardone told the jury that he did this by driving him to her house and obtaining the petrol he later used to kill her, even though he knew he had planned to do so.

“The defendant told them that a co-worker named Brian Johnston had told him several times … that he wanted to kill his wife.”

“[Johnston] what done [Mr Bell] expected it from him.”

The jury heard that Mr Bell initially told police he was not with Johnston when he went to Ms Wilkinson's house, but later admitted driving him there twice after his car was caught on CCTV on the road and at a rest stop.

He then told police that he had stopped by the house the first time at Johnston's request to “check things out” and that he had dropped him off nearby several hours later, but without asking any questions, the jury heard.

The jury heard that he later told an undercover agent that he had agreed to help Johnston with “anything he wanted to do” because he was “fed up” with hearing him talk about his separation from his wife.

Mr Bell's defence lawyer, Ed Whitton, told the jury that Ms Wilkinson had suffered a “brutal” death and urged them not to be “overwhelmed by the horrific actions” of Mr Johnston.

“Their main focus will be whether the Crown has proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Bradley Bell knew or expected what Mr Johnston was going to do.”

Mr Whitton told the jury that his client had indeed made confessions to police, but that they would “hear an explanation” as to why he had said those things.

“When the trial is over, there will be two sides to this story,” he said.

The trial before Judge Michael Copley is expected to last ten days.