Three, two, one.
That’s all the seconds it took for a man to kill his friend after buying a Ford modified to run like a race car.
David Wills was showing his mate the new wheels, which he described as the “pinnacle of Ford“.
The 2007 Ford Performance F6 Typhoon had been significantly modified by previous owners to increase its power, allowing it to run at more than 600 horsepower.
“The car scared me … specifically its power,“ Wills would later tell a psychologist.
Five weeks after buying the vehicle on Facebook Marketplace, on April 11, 2025, Wills wanted to demonstrate the Ford’s power to his friend Marco Guzman-Vargas, 49.
The two men worked as engineers and had an interest in motor vehicles.
After finishing work, about 2pm, Wills and Mr Guzman-Vargas got into the car for a drive near their workplace at an industrial area in Epping, Melbourne’s north.
The Ford had just made a right-hand bend when Wills put his foot on the accelerator and lost control of the vehicle.
The excessive acceleration caused the back tyres to lose traction, and within three seconds the Ford had hit the back of a StarTrack Express van.
Mr Guzman-Vargas suffered significant injuries and died at the scene, while Wills was taken to hospital with facial injuries.
Wills faced the County Court in Melbourne on Tuesday 3 February were he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death.
His barrister Philip Dunn KC said Wills had purchased the car as an impulse buy during an emotionally difficult period of his life and had little experience in driving it.
He said Wills planned to detune the Ford, which was “a car more suitable to the racetrack than the road“.
His friend’s death was an “unintended consequence“ of Wills’ split-second decision to hit the accelerator, he said.
“He’s pleaded guilty because he knows he made a mistake,“ Mr Dunn told the court.
“The man who died, a family man with children, was a friend. And the last thing in the world that Mr Wills wanted to do was in anyway hurt or injure his friend.
“The whole thing is just a shocking, shocking tragedy.“
He asked Judge Susan Wakeling to consider handing Wills a community work order without a prison term due to the circumstances of the offending and his remorse.
Prosecutor Jelena Malobabic said the law placed a premium on human life, and the sentence needed to ensure others were deterred from committing similar offending.
She said Wills should be jailed as he owed a duty of care to his passenger and his driving “created a real danger“.
“This is not a case of momentary inattention,“ she said.
“Mr Wills performed a very dangerous manoeuvre and his decision to drive a modified vehicle with a passenger created a substantial risk for safety.“
Wills, who remains on bail, returns to the court on February 20 when he will be sentenced.
