SA court told Dianne Rogan was murdered by Bevan John Brougham for refusing his sexual advances

WHYALLA woman Dianne Rogan was stomped and beaten to death by her neighbour’s son because she rebuffed his request for sex, a court has heard.

WHYALLA woman Dianne Rogan was stomped and beaten to death by her neighbour’s son because she rebuffed his request for sex, a court has heard.

The Supreme Court was today told Bevan John Brougham used his fists, feet and a plastic lawn chair to stage a “sustained and extremely violent” attack upon Mrs Rogan.

Prosecutor Mark Norman, SC, said Brougham’s actions were likely motivated by sexual rejection, as he was a man who had previously “boasted about committing adultery”.

He said the “cluttering and banging” attack was heard by another of Mrs Rogan’s neighbours, who also heard her pleading “please don’t hurt me”.

“Brougham had contacted Mrs Rogan during the early evening, with the intention of visiting her, in the hope or expectation he could persuade her to have sex with him,” he said.

“An altercation occurred between the two of them, possibly if not probably because there had been an attempt at sexual intercourse in (Mrs Rogan’s) spa bath.

“The attack upon Mrs Rogan was sustained and extremely violent ... it allows for no conclusion other than he, at the very least, he intended to cause her grevious bodily harm.”

Brougham, 53, is standing trial in the absence of a jury having pleaded not guilty to murdering Mrs Rogan, 52, at her Sharp St home in July 2013.

Mrs Rogan’s body was found in the back yard of the house, in a garden area near her spa bath, along with broken plastic lawn furniture and two plastic wine glasses.

She and her husband, Kevin, were both justices of the peace and well known in the Whyalla community.

Mr Rogan was overseas with his son, Jack, at the time of the murder.

In his opening address today, Mr Norman said Mrs Rogan had been “comfortable enough” in her friendship with Brougham to be naked in the spa with him.

They knew each other, he said, because Brougham’s parents lived next door.

Her post-mortem blood alcohol reading, he said, was 0.34 per cent.

Mr Norman said she suffered numerous injuries to her chest, head, face and back.

He likened Mrs Rogan’s chest injuries to those suffered by a car crash victim, saying they were serious enough on their own to have caused her death.

“There was at least one episode of significant depressive force consistent with someone stomping or jumping on Mrs Rogan’s chest,” he said.

Mr Norman said injuries of Mrs Rogan’s back were consistent with her having been struck by the plastic lawn chair “until it splintered”, while a piece of skin was found in her teeth.

That skin, he said, was a DNA match with Brougham and consistent with an injury on the sole of his foot at the time of his arrest.

“It is likely the deceased, still conscious, bit his foot in an effort to defend herself as the foot was being ground or stomped in her face,” he said.

Mr Norman said Brougham sustained injuries to his knuckles and eye during the murder, and that a splinter of plastic consistent with the lawn chair was later recovered from his eye.

He said Brougham had told “a mixture of truth and lies” to friends and police following the murder in an effort to distance himself from the crime.

He said Brougham’s blood alcohol reading at the time of the murder was unknown because he was not arrested until days later.

The trial, before Justice John Sulan, continues.