Peter Rex Dansie to stand trial before judge, without jury, over alleged drowning murder of his disabled wife in April 2017
A MAN accused of murdering his disabled wife by drowning her in a city pond will stand trial without a jury — and is seeking an expert witness to aid in his defence.
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- Peter Dansie ordered to stand trial over wife’s alleged murder
A MAN accused of murdering his disabled wife by drowning her in a city pond will stand trial without a jury – and is seeking an expert witness to aid in his defence.
Peter Rex Dansie faced the Supreme Court on Monday and pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife, Helen, in April 2017.
In the ordinary course, Dansie would now face a jury of his peers, however defence barrister Marie Shaw QC said her client had elected to go a different route.
“My client will be electing for a trial by judge alone,” she said.
“Also, a very important part of the defence case is the evidence of an expert witness.
“We ask for some time to try and find such a witness, and ascertain his or her availability, before a trial date is set.”
Prosecutors have alleged Danise, 68, murdered Helen – who used a wheelchair – in a “planned and premeditated” drowning in April 2017.
The body of Helen, 67, was recovered from a 1.5m deep pond in Veale Gardens.
Danise has repeatedly and publicly denied responsibility, claiming he jumped into the water to save her after her wheelchair went into the pond.
Prosecutors, however, allege he took a spare change of clothes to the pond.
They further allege Dansie left his watch in his car and placed his wallet and phone at the base of a tree before getting into the water to try to save her.
Prosecutors allege he took up a $50,000 accidental death funeral insurance policy in the days prior to the incident.
They further allege he conducted online searches for “cheap funerals” and cancelled her dental appointments saying Helen was “not going to be around much longer”.
Dansie was arrested and charged, they allege, after police found Helen’s ashes in the back of his car “covered in general rubbish”.
They sought to have him remanded in custody, claiming he had greater ties to China — which he had visited 23 times in 10 years — than he did to Adelaide.
That, they alleged, made him a flight risk – but the court disagreed and released him under strict home detention conditions.
On Monday, prosecutor Sarah Attar said it was unlikely the matter would proceed to trial before May 2019.
Justice Malcolm Blue remanded Dansie on continuing home detention bail until a closed-court directions hearing in October.