Peter Rex Dansie pleads not guilty to the murder of his wife, Helen, who died in a city pond
A MAN accused of drowning his disabled wife in a city pond has pleaded not guilty to her murder and will stand trial in the Supreme Court.
A MAN accused of drowning his disabled wife in a city pond has pleaded not guilty to her murder and will stand trial in the Supreme Court.
On Tuesday, Peter Rex Dansie, 68, appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court to face a preliminary hearing before he formally entered his not guilty pleas to the murder of his wife Helen Dansie.
He is accused of drowning her at Veale Gardens, in the Adelaide Parklands, in April 2017.
Dansie will be arraigned in the Supreme Court next month.
Last September, the Supreme Court released Dansie on home detention bail after first being refused bail in the Adelaide Magistrates Court.
During the bail application, prosecutor Sarah Attar said the case against Dansie was strong.
She said Dansie had greater ties to China — which he had visited 23 times in 10 years — than he did to Adelaide, causing investigators concern.
But Marie Shaw QC, for Dansie, said Ms Attar was “cherrypicking” elements of a “circumstantial case” to bolster her opposition to bail.
She said Dansie’s business interests would suffer if he remained in custody.
She said Dansie had co-operated with police throughout their inquiries and maintained he was innocent of the charge.
Justice Sam Doyle said he considered the prosecution case neither weak nor “overwhelmingly strong”.
He conceded it was “unusual, but not exceptional” to grant bail for murder.
He ruled Dansie was suitable for release on strict home detention conditions, including being subject to electronic monitoring at all times.