Marcellus Majalba charged with murder of 52-year-old partner after allegedly leaving her for dead at Casuarina Coastal Reserve
A Territory man who allegedly left his partner to die on a Darwin walking track has faced court over her murder, the second domestic violence killing to rock the Top End in just 10 days.
A man who allegedly left his partner to die on a Darwin walking track has faced court over her murder, the second domestic violence killing to rock the Top End in just 10 days.
Marcellus Giese Majalba appeared before Darwin Local Court charged with the murder of his partner, after the 52-year-old was found abandoned on a footpath near the Casuarina Coastal Reserve on September 26.
Mystery surrounds the circumstances of the woman’s death, with the police investigation initially classifying it as “not suspicious”.
NT Police said the woman was found unresponsive on the popular walking path at 11.15pm last Friday, and was declared deceased at the scene.
Her cause of death was initially treated as not suspicious as there were “no visible signs of trauma”.
However on Wednesday, police alleged “a post-mortem examination has identified internal injuries that have yet to be explained”.
Her partner Mr Majalba was arrested on Thursday and appeared in court before judge Julie Franz the next day — exactly a week after the woman’s death.
Major Crime Detectives have urged anyone with additional information or who were at the Casuarina Coastal Reserve between 5pm and 11pm to come forward.
This is the second alleged domestic violence homicide in the Greater Darwin Region in just 10 days, following the death of a 31-year-old Aboriginal woman outside a Palmerston home on Tuesday, September 16.
Domestic Violence Minister Robyn Cahill shared her sympathies over the latest alleged victim of family violence, saying she was committed to addressing “domestic, family and sexual violence head-on”.
“My heartfelt condolences are with the family and friends of the woman whose life was tragically taken in Casuarina on Friday 26 September 2025, noting this matter is now before the courts,” Ms Cahill said.
She said locking in a record baseline funding of $36 million per year would “tackle domestic, family and sexual violence head-on, ensuring frontline crisis services can help break the cycle of violence, by addressing the root causes of crime”.
Ms Cahill said this was in addition to a $8.4m Commonwealth Government commitment, with 22 organisations receiving funding by June 30.
“As part of the review of existing programs, many of which have been in place for over a decade , a new roadmap is being developed to ensure service delivery is outcome focused and driven by those with lived experience,” she said.
“The roadmap is being finalised and will be announced in due course.”
NT Police data has suggested a significant rise in abuse in the past financial year, with domestic violence making up a larger proportion of all assaults and higher rates of revictimisation.
In the 2023-24 annual report, NT Police said 65.7 per cent of assaults were domestic violence related, but in the budget documents this rose to 69 per cent.
Similarly 31 per cent of family violence victims were subject to further offending in 2023-24, which jumped to 48 per cent in the last financial year.
More Coverage
Originally published as Marcellus Majalba charged with murder of 52-year-old partner after allegedly leaving her for dead at Casuarina Coastal Reserve
