16-07-2025
Cape York man committed to stand trial for murder of Indigenous woman 12 years ago
A former Queensland quarry worker has been committed to stand trial for the alleged murder of an Indigenous woman more than a decade ago.
Warning: This article contains details said in court of threats and violence that some readers may find distressing.
A 23-year-old Kowanyama woman, known for cultural reasons as Ms Bernard, was last seen at a pub in the Cape York town of Coen on February 10, 2013.
Ms Bernard allegedly left the bar with Thomas Maxwell Byrnes, 63, with the intention of going to a quarry where he worked at Archer River, 68 kilometres north of Coen.
Ms Bernard's family reported her missing a few days later, which prompted a search of surrounding bushland, home to several disused mine shafts, but her body has never been found.
Mr Byrnes was charged with Ms Bernard's murder in January last year and has remained in custody since.
He has faced several committal hearings in the Cairns Magistrates Court since May, where several witnesses have been cross-examined.
In one instance, the former manager of the Exchange Hotel in Coen, Dean Lloyd, said Mr Byrnes was a regular patron at the bar.
Mr Lloyd told the court he recalled having a conversation with Mr Byrnes and another customer where they discussed the disappearance of Ms Bernard.
He said it appeared to him that Mr Byrnes was intoxicated.
"He then said, 'I took [Ms Bernard] from the pub and we were meant to go home,' something along those lines, and 'You know what happened next,'" he said.
Mr Lloyd said he "froze" and responded by saying that he did not know what happened next.
He said Mr Byrnes took a while to respond.
"He looked at me and [the other patron] and said, 'Youse f**king say anything, youse'll be put beside her and never found."
A regular visitor to the Coen Exchange Hotel, Jacqueline May Greenhalgh, told another hearing that she spoke with other regulars like Mr Byrnes.
She said words in a conversation with a group of people following Ms Bernard's disappearance were "etched" in her mind.
Ms Greenhalgh said Mr Byrnes made unexpected comments that Ms Bernard's body would not be found by authorities.
In a hearing on Tuesday, Coen resident Neville Shepherd told the court he had a conversation with Mr Byrnes in 2017 or 2018 when he said Ms Bernard had bitten him on the penis.
In the same conversation, Mr Shepherd said Mr Byrnes also said he'd "roughed her up".
Mr Byrnes's lawyer, James Sheridan, questioned Mr Shepherd's recollection of the conversation, noting Mr Shepherd had a hearing impairment.
Mr Sheridan asked Mr Shepherd if Mr Byrnes might have said, "She was a bit rough."
Mr Shepherd said that was possible.
He said Mr Byrnes also told him that Ms Bernard "took off" and he did not ask him what that meant.
Magistrate Scott Luxton committed Mr Byrnes to stand trial in the Cairns Supreme Court at a date to be set.
Mr Byrnes did not enter a plea and remains in custody.
