Lee Paul Streng’s murder charge for death of Glengowrie mum Louise Hughes dropped

A man accused of murdering a mother of two at his Park Holme home last year has had the charges dropped – a move which has left her family devastated.

A man accused of murdering Glengowrie mother Louise Hughes at his Park Holme home has had all charges dropped.

Lee Paul Streng, 34, has remained in custody since Ms Hughes death last September.

He was briefly released from Port Augusta Prison earlier this month – but breached his bail within hours of being freed and was returned to custody.

Ms Hughes, 51, was found collapsed and unresponsive in a property on Condada Ave, Park Holme, on September 4, 2022.

Lee Paul Streng has had all charges against him dropped. Picture: Mark Brake

Murder victim Louise Hughes. Picture: Supplied

During a hearing earlier this month in the Adelaide Magistrates Court, Stacey Carter, for Streng, told the court a post-mortem report had cast doubt on Ms Hughes’ cause of death.

On Monday, a police prosecutor confirmed that an addendum to the initial report had been prepared and passed to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

However, the DPP refused to reach charge determination – a stage in the committal process where prosecutors confirm the charge they are going to continue to either the District or Supreme Court.

Following that refusal, police had determined to dismiss the charge against Mr Streng by tendering no evidence against him.

The court heard that Ms Hughes may have died as a result of intoxication, though the exact nature of her death has not been revealed in court.

People at the house where Ms Hughes died started CPR on her after she collapsed but she died at the scene.

Police at the time said it was an “unusual case” and “people don’t normally just pass away without any outside influence of some description”.

On Monday, Magistrate John Wells heard that prosecutors were withdrawing all charges against Mr Streng.

Mr Streng remains in custody pending the finalisation of his breach of bail charge.

Outside court, Detective Inspector Mark McEachern said Ms Hughes’ death remained under investigation and did not rule out any further arrests.

Also outside court, Ms Hughes’ sister Mardi Webber said the family was “devastated”.

“But we just have faith in the police that they will do the right thing by us, and by my sister – she is the one suffering,” an emotional Ms Webber said.

She would not comment on the results of Ms Hughes’ post mortem and said the family continued to struggle with the loss of her sister.

“(We’re coping) as well as you’d think we are – not very well,” she said.

“(We’re just) supporting each other, that’s all we can do.”