Murder accused to remain in custody

TWO years ago, John Edwards shed tears as he stood with his sons and pleaded for information on the whereabouts of his estranged wife Sharon Edwards.

NO STONE UNTURNED: A team of police searched the Lawrence property of John Edwards all day yesterday. Picture: Clair Morton

TWO years ago, former schoolteacher John Edwards shed tears as he stood with his sons in front of the media and pleaded for information on the whereabouts of his estranged wife Sharon Edwards.

"The fact that she did not have an enemy in the world" was one of the biggest hindrances to the investigation into her disappearance, he said.

Yesterday the 60-year-old was charged with her murder.

It comes after Mr Edwards's arrest on Tuesday afternoon at an address on Klinger Rd in Redcliffe in Brisbane and subsequent extradition to NSW, which was granted to Strike Force Burrow investigators at Brisbane Magistrates Court yesterday morning.

The accused then faced Tweed Heads Local Court around 3pm.

As bail was not applied for, Mr Edwards is expected to remain in custody until his next court appearance in Lismore on August 22.

It is believed he has not yet entered a plea.

The murder charge marks a new chapter in the investigation that has gripped the Clarence Valley since Mrs Edwards was declared a missing person on March 17, 2015, after failing to turn up to her work as a teacher the day before at Coutts Crossing Public School.

It was later revealed Mr Edwards was the last person known to see her alive - at her house in Riverdale Crt, Grafton, on the night of Saturday March 14, 2015.

Mr Edwards was named as a suspect in the case exactly one year after her disappearance when police disclosed that there had been an altercation between the two.

On Tuesday, Coffs Clarence crime manager Detective Inspector Darren Jameson said police would allege it was this altercation that led to Sharon's untimely death.

The investigation is ongoing despite the murder charge, but the focus of the investigation is now expected to turn towards the search for Mrs Edwards's body.

Police search the Lawrence of John Edwards. Picture: Adam Hourigan

Yesterday in Lawrence, at the house where Mr Edwards was living, police brushed past a giant NSW Blues flag hanging over the door as they continued a thorough search of the house and surrounds.

Every object, piece of paper and possession was scrutinised as officers searched the house and shed for more evidence to bolster the prosecution case.

It is certainly not the first time the house has been searched.

Just a month after her disappearance cadaver dogs were used to search all three properties owned by Mr and Mrs Edwards.

Fairfax Media this week reported that as police divers searched a waterway for firearms belonging to Mr Edwards in April 2015, they allegedly found a school-issued laptop.

Originally published as Murder accused to remain in custody