Community rocked by alleged murder at Aldinga Beach after man arrested

A sleepy beachside suburb is in shock after a man was charged with murder over the death of a mum-of-two whose body was found following a house fire.

Emergency services called to a house fire in Aldinga Beach, Friday, Oct. 20, 2023. Picture: Matt Loxton

A man has been charged with murder after mother-of-two Krystal Marshall who was found dead in her home on Friday.

The 38-year-old woman was found inside her Aldinga Beach house on Friday around 3.25pm by emergency services.

They were called to the home on Barracoota Crescent after a neighbour reported seeing smoke coming from the roof.

Fire crews extinguished the blaze and when they checked the home, they found Krystal’s body.

Fire investigators attended the scene to determine the cause of the fire and following the investigation, just after 10pm on Saturday Southern District Detectives arrested a 48-year-old man at the same address and charged him with murder.

He has been refused bail and will appear in Christies Beach Magistrates Court on Monday.

Seven police officers were at the scene of the alleged murder on Sunday.

Neighbour Veronika Lowe, who escaped a house fire herself years ago, told The Advertiser on Sunday that she knew exactly what to do when she saw smoke billowing from the property on Barracoota Crescent.

She called triple-0 immediately while helping a man out of the property.

“I found a man slumped on the grass and asked him if there was anyone inside,” Ms Lowe said.

Krystal Marshall, 38, right, was found dead after a house fire in Aldinga on Friday. Picture: Facebook

“I got him across the road and within five minutes police where there.

“He was sitting in the gutter across the road … when I told him to move … he slumped down and he got back up again and he fell down kind of thing.”

Anastasia Marshall, Krystal’s ex-partner, who was walking by the house where they used to live together on Sunday said her death was sad.

Neighbour, Lorry Thomas, said they were one incident away from selling their property in Aldinga and moving away after other events on the street.

“We’re country people. We came here when Aldinga was really small and seeing this and now there’s been a few nasty things have happened around the area. No more.”

Ms Thomas said she felt sorry for Anastasia and her children.

“Now that woman must be absolutely a mess as well,” the retired nurse said.

“There’s nothing worse than losing your mum like that.”

Neighbour Jason Freer, 51, lived next door to Krystal and said those who lived in the home had moved in six months ago and were always “friendly” and “kept to themselves”.

“It’s sad to hear about a death,” he said.

Mr Freer said he was alerted to the fire by an unusual crackling noise.

“I thought it was raining at first, so I walked outside and noticed all this smoke, there was fire coming from the neighbours’ roof,” he said.

On Saturday, Anastasia returned to the home.

“I saw smoke coming out of the house when I was walking up the street,” she told 7NEWS after the fatal incident on Friday.

“We weren’t together but we never got divorced, but we were together for 11 years before that.”

Their dogs and a cat were pulled out of the house but did not sustain any injuries.

Police have asked anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.