Cody James Edwards pleads not guilty to alleged murder of Synamin Bell as lawyer flags mental incompetence defence

A year after his first appearance in court for the alleged murder of Synamin Bell, Cody James Edwards has pleaded not guilty. See what happened in court.

The South-East man accused of murdering a Millicent mother-of-three has formally entered a not guilty plea, a court has heard.

Cody James Edwards, 26, appeared by AVL in the Mount Gambier Magistrates Court as his lawyer awaits a report to see if his client has a mental impairment and fitness to stand trial defence.

Oliver Cole for Edwards, told the court there had been a delay in receiving the section 269 report, which is now expected to be completed in early May.

“Unfortunately that hasn’t been returned to me — I’m in your honours hands,” he said.

“I’ve spoken to Mr Edwards this morning and he consents to the charge being read and will maintain a plea of not guilty for the time being.”

Cody James Edwards. Picture: Facebook

Mr Edwards formally entered a plea of not guilty to one count of murder on Monday.

Magistrate Koula Kossiavelos said a defence of mental incompetence was not something that could be resolved in her jurisdiction.

“I would suggest that the matter does go up to the higher courts, because you could end up having further delays in relation to those issues,” Ms Kossiavelos said.

“So this will be listed in the Supreme Court and it’s noted that section 269 issues are still being explored.”

It has been one year to the day since Mr Edwards first appeared in court following the alleged murder of Synamin Bell on Saturday, March 12, 2022.

Cody James Edwards. Picture: Facebook

Police have been analysing complex forensic evidence including blood spatter, fingerprint and DNA analysis, the court previously heard.

“There’s numerous amount of forensics we need to undertake – unfortunately we’re unable to examine this concurrently,” a police prosecutor previously said.

Last month Ms Bell’s brother Paul Bell-Inskip, who previously spoke to the Advertiser in the wake of the “unfathomable” tragedy, opened up again about how tough life has been without his sister. 

“2022 was a year I was happy to see the back end off, it broke me and I needed a lot of mental strength which I had to find to get through,” he said.

Murdered mum-of-three Synamin Bell and her children. Picture: GoFundM

Millicent murder victim Synamin Bell, Picture: Facebook

“The anniversary was hard, when you live a busy life and focus on it’s easy to think it’s OK — until it becomes something you actively focus on.”

Mr Bell-Inskip said anniversaries, birthdays and other special dates served as a constant reminder of the family’s loss.

“We all just miss her, she was a bright bubbly person that lived for her kids, she just wanted the best for everyone,” he said.

“(Her kids) are getting through their daily life but desperately missing their mum.

“I feel there is a piece missing from everyone now — it feels like a chunk of bubbly happiness has disappeared.”

Mr Edwards will next appear in the Supreme Court at a date to be determined.

The Millicent man was remanded in custody where he has been since his March 12 arrest.