Lionel Bernard, 50, charged with murdering 44-year-old Felixstow woman over two locations
Police say they need more time to examine evidence over the alleged November killing, which they say occurred over two crime scenes.
Police & Courts
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A man charged with murdering a 44-year-old woman last November has faced an Adelaide court for the first time, but police now say the incident occurred over “two separate crime scenes”.
On Tuesday morning, Lionel Bernard, 50, appeared via audio visual link from custody in the Adelaide Magistrates Court charged with the murder of a woman late last year.
Emergency services were called to a unit block in Felixstow at 1.30pm on November 15 after the body was found in one of the homes.
Police believed the body to be that of a 44-year-old resident, and Major Crime detectives were called to the scene.
Detectives were seen removing what appeared to be an arm chair wrapped in paper from one unit, and several other items in evidence bags.
A week later, APY Lands detectives arrested Mr Bernard in the state’s far north and charged him with murder.
Police prosecutors on Tuesday told Chief Magistrate Hribal they needed further time before the committal process could commence due to the extent of evidence that needed examining.
“We’re not expecting the post mortem to be available until July,” police prosecutors said.
“There’s further evidence to come including DNA evidence, fingerprint evidence, blood splatter assessment. There’s also a number of affidavits still to come.
“It’s a complex matter, it already contains 90 statements and it occurred across two separate crime scenes.”
Tim Clarke, for Mr Bernard, however said the fact a post mortem hadn’t been completed seven months after the alleged incident was “unsatisfactory”.
“My client has been in custody that whole time, and the post mortem is very important in the context of this case,” Mr Clarke said.
“My request is that we come back in August so we can assess the post mortem report and we’ll have some further clarity.”
Ms Hribal adjourned the matter for a further hearing in August.
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