Parents in 'hell' after son's murder

The distraught parents of a murdered man are living in their "own private hell" since his ex-girlfriend lured him into a car, where he was shot by her new lover.

In her victim impact statement read out in the SA Supreme Court on Friday, Christine MacDonald said she had nightmares wondering about her son's last moments, whether he was unconscious and if he suffered.

Tristan Kaye Castle, 37, and Jason Bucca, 27, were found guilty in December of murdering Adrian Paul MacDonald, 39, at the Big Bucket Car Wash in Parafield, Adelaide, on February 3, 2013.

Castle told the jury another man was responsible for the shooting and she had no idea he had a gun on him when she drove him to the car wash.

But the crown alleged Castle lured Mr MacDonald into the car, where Bucca was lying in the boot with a gun.

Applications by Bucca and Castle to challenge their convictions have been set down for hearing on Monday.

On Friday, Ms MacDonald said the family's relationship with her son had deteriorated because of his drug use and the bad company he kept, but his murder meant this could never be repaired.

She and her husband Paul were "both in our own private hell", handling grief in different ways and being unable to connect with each other.

"This has changed Paul's work - he's unable to work within the prison system fixing their security for fear of facing the persons responsible for Adrian's murder," she said.

Her young grandson missed his father very much as "he has lost the most important person in his life".

Castle and Bucca will sentenced on a date to be fixed.