Tia Landers: Couple plead guilty to murder
THE couple on trial for Queensland mother-of-four Tia Landers’ murder have both pleaded guilty.
Crime & Justice
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THE couple on trial for Tia Landers’ murder have both pleaded guilty.
Linda Eileen Appleton and John Edward Harris pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Landers at Brighton on June 16, 2014, at Brighton when their trial opened in the Supreme Court in Brisbane on Monday.
They pleaded guilty, however, to interfering with Ms Landers’ corpse and the deprivation of liberty of Jake McKenzie and Ryan Morgan.
In a twist on Friday morning, on the fifth day of their trial, the couple changed their pleas and admitted to the murder.
They will be sentenced next Friday.
Ms Landers’ body was found wrapped in a blanket in a shallow grave in Beerburrum forest in July 2014.
She had two bullet wounds to her head, 30 wounds to her body, and her throat was covered in green tape, the court heard.
In his opening address on Monday, Crown prosecutor Philip McCarthy said Appleton confessed during a “cell-block” conversation with an undercover police officer following her arrest.
“She told the officer, “we carved her up, we chopped her up, we chopped her up with a machete,” he said.
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