A Crown Court jury was told this morning that drug production and money were at the heart of a row which ended with the death of an Ongar man and another man being attacked.
Paul Groves, 34, of Queensway, Ongar, pleaded not guilty this morning at the start of a two week trial to murdering William (Billy) Martindale, 39, at Meadow View Farm, High Ongar, last September.
He also denied wounding Paul Meeking, of Barking, by attacking and biting him.
Prosecutor, Simon Spence QC claimed at Chelmsford Crown Court that Mr Martindale, of Crispey Avenue, Ongar, had complained that Groves had not paid money due in respect of a cannabis crop.
He told the jury of eight men and four women : "On the evening of 7 September, 2012, Mr Martindale died as a result of a severe head injury - a fractured skull caused by two heavy blows across the back of the head with a pickaxe handle - inflicted after a number of punches to the face which rendered him unconscious.
"Mr Meeking suffered serious injuries to his head and face and a bite mark to his stomach area. The defendant was arrested later that evening and denied any knowledge of what happened to the police officer who arrested him.
"The pick axe handle was found in his van. When interviewed at length by police officers the following afternoon, he answered no comment. "
They had known each other and "been friends for some years", said Mr Spence.
But he continued : "It seems, however, they had fallen out over the defendant's production of cannabis, something Billy Martindale disapproved of, although it was he who put the defendant in touch with a man for advice as to how to grow the crop.
"In return for this Martindale was to receive a payment for each crop that was harvested and sold. Over time Billy Martindale was paid twice for crops that were grown but he believed, rightly or wrongly, that a third crop had been produced and that the defendant therefore owed him a further payment.
"The issued caused friction between the two and matters came to a head, fatally for Billy Martindale, on 7 September."