Alexander O’Sachy to stand trial for murder of Angela Goodwin
A woman who was allegedly fatally stabbed by her partner lost an excessive amount of blood before she died, a court was told.
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A woman who was allegedly fatally stabbed with a blade by her partner, lost more than one litre of blood before she died, a court has been told.
Alexander George O’Sachy has been committed to stand trial in the Brisbane Supreme Court for the murder of his girlfriend Angela Silk, also known as Angela Goodwin, on September 6, 2021.
The Crown Prosecution case against Mr O’Sachy will allege Ms Goodwin was fatally wounded in her partner’s home on Wishart Road in Upper Mount Gravatt.
Despite the efforts of first responders, Ms Goodwin died about 50 minutes later.
During the committal hearing in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Tuesday, a senior pathologist who conducted the autopsy on Ms Goodwin told the court he concluded she had died from a stab wound to the back of her left thigh.
“The stab wound has actually damaged a major artery that led to significant blood loss,” he said.
The forensic pathologist explained to the court that while it “it is difficult to assess blood loss from autopsy”, evidence from the scene indicated Ms Goodwin had lost about a litre of blood when she was stabbed.
He could not comment on whether Ms Goodwin’s use of methamphetamine the day she died had contributed to the amount of blood lost.
The court was told the autopsy had determined the length of blade used to stab Ms Goodwin would have been “at least” 15-18cm in length.
“Without having any other physical or scientific evidence it’s difficult to say what has exactly caused this injury but in my estimate the blade was 15-18cm,” the forensic pathologist said.
The court was told the DNA evidence in the case against Ms O’Sachy was also re-examined by the Queensland Forensic DNA Unit after commission into inquiry into the lab ordered all murder cases at trial and committee hearing level be re-examined.
Detective William Scanlon, the arresting officer in charge of the murder case, told the court Mr O’Sachy was the only person police had alleged had killed Ms Goodwin.
Mr O’Sachy’s defence barrister Laura Reece had questioned why police hadn’t investigated whether a third housemate, Troy Ruskey, had not been a person of interest.
The court was told Mr Ruskey, who was never charged, had been interviewed three times within 16 hours following the death.
“By the time (Mr Ruskey) disclosed to us he’d seen the deceased laying there in blood we had CCTV of him making a phone call to his partner,” detective Scanlon said.
“By that time we had the interview with the defendant, there was nothing said to implicate Mr Ruskey in anyway.”
Mr O’Sachy did not enter a plea to the murder charge.
He will now stand trial at a later date in the Brisbane Supreme Court.
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Originally published as Alexander O’Sachy to stand trial for murder of Angela Goodwin
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