Attempted murder accused Rodney Noel Marxsen refused bail in Gladstone Magistrates Court

A police prosecutor has told a Central Qld court how a woman ‘blacked out and couldn’t breathe’ with her eyes ‘bulging’ as she was being choked. When she was close to death, the alleged offender “then started to slap her face to wake her up.’’

A Central Queensland man accused of choking and punching a woman until her eyes bulged and she lost consciousness, has been refused bail.

Burua man, Rodney Noel Marxsen, 61, applied for bail in Gladstone Magistrates Court on Monday, with the matter adjourned to allow for psychological assessment.

Mr Marxsen was charged with attempted murder after he allegedly attended a woman’s residence at 4.45am on March 7 and attempted to lock her inside, before allegedly chasing her down in a vehicle and choking her until she passed out.

Mr Marxsen was also charged with assault occasioning bodily harm, choking and entering a dwelling with intent to commit an indictable offence.

Court documents allege Mr Marxsen told police after the incident that he tried to “kill that c--- of a thing” and tried to screw the complainant’s front door shut before grabbing a chainsaw from his car to cut the back door down.

Police allege that in electronic recordings, Mr Marxsen accepted that he attended the Brendonna Rd address with the “full intent” of killing her.

Police prosecutor Senior Constable Carl Spargo said when Mr Marxsen saw the complainant run out the door he was unable to follow her on foot and got into his car to chase her down.

“He stopped and punched her about three times in the face before grabbing her around the throat, and stated he had strong hands so he could squeeze and squeeze,” Snr Const. Spargo said.

“She blacked out and couldn’t breathe, her eyes were bulging … when the victim was close to death he then started to slap her face to wake her up but she was unresponsive.

“The defendant said he squeezed her throat again before having a change of mind to let her go and stated ‘I won’t kill you this time’ before he got into his car and drove away.”

Snr Const. Spargo said, by the accused’s own admissions, he remained a “very serious threat to the victim”.

Defence Lawyer Cassandra Ditchfield said Mr Marxsen’s mental health at the time of the offending was of primary concern, requesting a lengthy adjournment to allow for psychological assessment.

Ms Ditchfield said Mr Marxsen suffered a “psychological break” at the time of the alleged offending and may not be criminally liable.

Ms Ditchfield said she was concerned that matters subject to psychological assessment had lengthy delays and said Mr Marxsen should be granted bail until proceedings could continue.

The lawyer said Mr Marxsen had an address where he could stay, an hour’s drive from the place of the alleged offending, and that the defendant would comply with wearing a tracker.

She accepted Mr Marxsen was staying at the same proposed address at the time of the alleged offending on March 7.

Acting Magistrate Ron Muirhead ruled that bail must be refused because of the nature of the alleged offending and that Mr Marxsen’s lawyer was unable to show sufficient cause as to why bail should be granted.

When Mr Muirhead was explaining his decision he noted that Mr Marxsen allegedly said “I won’t kill you this time”.

Ms Ditchfield said Mr Marxsen did not say that.

The matter was adjourned until September.