Alleged murder victim's body not found for 20 days, as man charged granted home detention bail

Australia Broadcast Center

7 hours ago

The body of an alleged murder victim was not found for 20 days and her cause of death remains "unascertained" – but her alleged killer's bloodied fingerprints were found at a crime scene, a court has heard.
Lionel Ernest Bernard, 52, previously pleaded not guilty to murdering his 44-year-old partner after her decomposing body was discovered at a home in Felixstow in November 2023.
He was granted home detention bail in the Adelaide Magistrates Court today, but will not be freed because his proposed bail address – to live with a family member – was not deemed suitable.
Mr Bernard's defence lawyer, Jane Powell, told the court a post-mortem report had listed the victim's cause of death as "unascertained", and noted she had comorbidities which could have played a role in her death, including liver disease and heart disease.
"At trial, the primary issue will be causation … my submission is that the prosecution will not be able to exclude other causes of death," she said.
Ms Powell said the report noted the victim had multiple facial injuries which occurred around her time of death, but they had not caused her death.
She said prosecution evidence included CCTV footage of her client at the home around the time the woman died, while Mr Bernard had attempted to call triple-0 twice "three or four hours apart".
Ms Powell said her client – who grew up in the state's APY Lands – had limited English skills and may not have been able to articulate to a call-taker.
The court heard the victim was last seen alive on October 25, 2023, and that Mr Bernard had attempted to catch a bus to Port Augusta on October 26 before succeeding the next day, on October 27.
It heard he went to his brother's house in Port Augusta, and the victim's phone was later found at that address.
Kirby Draper, prosecuting, told the court Mr Bernard's family members had been "lying" when they gave statements to police suggesting they had spoken to the victim the day after Mr Bernard arrived in Port Augusta.
"We say, on the prosecution case, that cannot be right," she said.
"The phone attributable to the deceased was in the defendant's possession."
She said the victim's body was found on November 15, and when police arrived at the scene they found "a very significant pool of blood on a chair" and more blood throughout the house.
She said there were "rudimentary" efforts made to clean the area, while an attempt had also been made to conceal boots with the defendant's DNA and the victim's blood on them in a cupboard.
"Perhaps most compellingly, there is smeared blood and cleaning cloths stained with that blood … (and) the evidence of fingerprints, or palm impressions of the defendant marked in the deceased's blood," she said.
She said while the pathology report had noted the victim had a number of comorbidities, there was not evidence they were "at end of life stage".
Ms Kirby also told the court the triple-0 calls were made around the time Mr Bernard was attempting to leave Adelaide.
She told the court prosecutors opposed bail on three grounds including the gravity of the offending, risk of re-offending and the risk Mr Bernard could abscond.
She said two proposed home detention addresses were not suitable because potential witnesses resided at one, while the alleged victim of an unrelated domestic violence incident lived at another.
Magistrate Justin Wickens said he would grant Mr Bernard, who was assisted by an interpreter, release on home detention bail if a suitable address could be found for him to reside.
He adjourned the case for a month to allow time to find a suitable residence.