The first witness in Outback Wrangler Matt Wright‘s trial wept in court after he was quizzed about the dead man at the centre of the case, Chris ‘Willow’ Wilson.
NT Crocodile King Michael ‘Mick’ Burns broke down in tears after prosecutor Jason Gullaci asked if he had been close to the daredevil crocodile egg-collector.
Willow’s widow Dani, who has been a regular at court, also wiped tears from her face as Mr Burns sobbed in the witness box.
Wright, who has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice, bowed his head to his knees and looked straight down.
Wright’s wife Kaia also needed tissues during the emotional courtroom scenes.
Mr Wilson was suspended in a 30m sling beneath a Robinson R44 helicopter to pluck the eggs from croc nests when it crashed on February 28, 2022.
The helicopter, referred to as ‘IDW’ in the trial, crashed in a paperbark swamp near King River, a remote part of West Arnhem Land, 500km east of Darwin.
The father-of-two allegedly fell more than 5m to his death in the tragedy.
Matt Wright and wife Kaia arrive hand in hand to court on Wednesday
Dani Wilson teared up when the court heard about her late-husband Chris ‘Willow’ Wilson’s death
Pilot Seb Robinson (left) and Willow
Wright, 45, denies accusations he attempted to meddle with the investigation in the aftermath of the horror tragedy which left pilot Seb Robinson, who the jury was told was a ‘recreational cocaine user’, a paraplegic.
The jury was earlier told the former Netflix croc celebrity was caught discussing a plot to destroy the character and reputation of Mr Robinson.
Mr Gullaci said a covert recording between Wright and associate Jai Tomlinson where they discussed a plot to tarnish the former pilot will be played to the jury.
The Victorian-based silk read excerpts of the recording made in September 2025, in which Mr Tomlinson and Wright discus the paraplegic pilot.
‘I’ll just say he’s a s*** pilot,’ Wright allegedly said.
‘Yeah, work on his character,’ Mr Tomlinson allegedly responded.
In a previous conversation covertly recorded at Wright’s Queensland home on September 23, 2022, the wrangler and Tomlinson discussed the investigation.
Crocodile King Michael ‘Mick’ Burns broke down in the witness box
Matt and Kaia were covertly recorded at their home
Dani and Chris had two children together
‘Yes, now – but now everyone is f***ing – now they are starting to put the pressure on everyone, you know, they will start squealing, so yes,’ Wright allegedly said.
Tomlinson allegedly responded: ‘One word against another.’
The jury previously heard allegations Wright visited Mr Robinson at a Queensland hospital on March 11 and March 13 2022 to pressure his former pilot into altering flight hour records.
Mr Gullaci alleged Wright brought a Maintenance Release (MR) document for Mr Robinson’s helicopter known as ‘ZXZ’.
At the first visit on March 11, Wright asked Mr Robinson to take some hours of the crashed ‘IDW’ and put them onto his ‘ZXZ’ helicopter.
Kaia and Mr Robinson’s mother Noelene Chellingworth and brother Zac Chellingworth were also present during the first visit.
The court heard Wright left the document at the hospital for Mr Robinson to sign before he returned on March 13.
Mr Gullaci told the jury Mr Robinson’s uncle James Carew partially recorded the conversation between Wright and the paraplegic pilot.
Dani has attended court every day
‘He wanted him to falsely take those hours,’ Mr Gullaci said.
Mr Gullaci repeated his reference from yesterday that Wright was ‘no Robinson Crusoe’ before adding a lot of helicopter operators had lax flight hour recording practises.
The 14-person jury was told Mr Chellingworth heard Wright say during a hospital visit that he needed Mr Robinson ‘to take 1520 hours off IDW and put them on ZXZ because they were hours unaccounted for’.
‘I just need those hours from that machine – um – oh, it doesn’t matter, I can fill them in afterwards, just as long as Sebby has them, Sebby’s got to sign – where’s he sign that?,’ Wright was allegedly recorded saying.
The prosecution also alleged Wright ‘never produced’ the original Maintenance Release document for IDW despite being requested by authorities to do so.
It’s also alleged Wright ordered Mr Tomlinson to destroy the MR with those orders allegedly caught on a covert recording.
The court heard Wright allegedly told Mr Tomlinson he would likely find the MR in a box marked ‘office’ at his company base in the NT.
‘Just torch it, I don’t know where it is,’ Wright allegedly told Mr Tomlinson.
‘I reckon CASA [Civil Aviation Safety Authority] are chasing the original to set us up, I don’t remember signing it… just burn the c***.’
Wright leaves court with his barrister David Edwardson KC (front right)
Mr Burns commenced giving evidence shortly after the prosecution completed its trial opening and lead defence barrister David Edwardson KC gave a brief response.
The experienced croc farmer and egg collector known locally as NT’s Crocodile King told the jury how he flew to the crash site with Wright and former NT cop Neil Mellon as soon as he heard about the accident.
Mr Burns said he had flown to Darwin on the morning of the crash but returned as fast as he could to the scene.
He said the first thing he did when he arrived was to see his ‘great mate, Willow’.
The emotionally-charged courtroom heard how Mr Burns flew in a CareFlight flight with Mr Wilson’s body then spoke to his parents.
The court heard on Wednesday that Wright was probed for his alleged actions following the crash, between March and September 2022, in Darwin and other locations.
At the centre of the case is the allegation that Wright impeded the investigation in the months following the fatal crash.
Prosecutors allege Wright did not properly follow maintenance rules for his helicopters and had attempted to conceal this after the crash.
Victorian-based barrister Jason Gullaci SC is leading the prosecution case
On Wednesday, Mr Gullaci told the jury that multiple conversations Wright had with his wife were covertly recorded, including one discussion which occurred on September 22, 2022.
The jury heard Kaia asked her husband that if he was being honest, how many hours did he believe IDW had been overflown?
Mr Gullaci explained the model of helicopter involved in the crash needed to be scrapped, or undergo a $400,000 overhaul, once it reached 2,200 recorded flight hours.
The jury also heard the helicopter needed to be serviced every 50 hours, according to Australian aviation regulations.
In the recording, the jury heard Wright say: ‘A couple of hundred, I think, ten percent… I think 200.’
Mr Gullaci also said Wright and his wife discussed how he didn’t properly log hours, and he didn’t even own a ‘f***ing book’, which the jury heard was meant to mean a helicopter flight hours logbook.
Willow was well-loved among his close friends
Wright also feared video footage of his helicopters taken during TV production and other times could lead investigators to conclude the recorded flight times did not correlate.
Mr Gullaci said Wright, in his role as owner and chief pilot of Helibrook, was motivated to cover his tracks because he hadn’t kept proper records.
The jury heard allegations Helibrook pilots regularly failed to record flight hours and Wright ordered pilots not to record flight hours.
Mr Gullaci said it was the prosecution case Wright had a motivation to ’actively’ meddle with the investigation because he believed if his under-recording of hours was uncovered, it could be considered a reason for the deadly crash.
The jury heard IDW was registered to fly with Helibrook in 2020 and a company owned by Wright purchased when it had 1,594 hours on the clock and when it crashed it had 2,070 recorded hours – 130 hours under the threshold.
The prosecution alleged the helicopter had flown more than 2,200 hours and Wright had attempted to cover up the bogus numbers.
Mr Gullaci acknowledged slinging for croc eggs was ‘incredibly brave and risky and dangerous’ due to the remote nature of the job.
Mr Gullaci also stressed that Wright was not responsible for the death of Mr Wilson or for Mr Robinson’s serious injury.
The court also heard Wright and the other men including Mr Burns who rushed to the accident scene in another helicopter was also ‘incredibly brave’.
Mr Gullaci acknowledged slinging for croc eggs was ‘incredibly brave and risky and dangerous due to the remote nature of the job.
Mr Gullaci also stressed that Wright was not responsible for the death of Mr Wilson or Mr Robinson’s serious injury.
Other witnesses in the trial will include the pilots, as well as fellow TV crew members, major Top End business figures and crocodile egg collectors.
Matt and Kaia in happier times
Wright’s lead role in Outback Wrangler – before launching his Netflix and Channel Nine spin-off – is believed to have earned him at least $250,000 per season.
Wild Croc Territory featured Wright as both the main star and executive producer, working alongside his agent, Nick Fordham, further boosting his income.
However, the first season of the show, which co-starred Mr Wilson, was derailed by the tragic crash that led to his death.
After the accident, Netflix continued to stream the first season of Wild Croc Territory despite a request from Ms Wilson to cease, but a planned second season for 2023 has never aired.
Wright previously had endorsement deals with Ariat, Yokohama Tyres Australia and Otis Eyewear. Tourism Australia also dropped him as a ‘Friends of Australia’ ambassador.
The trial at the Northern Territory Supreme Court in Darwin continues.
