Quick-thinking cop helped track down Aiia Maasarwe’s alleged murderer
The way in which student Aiia Maasarwe was allegedly killed has been withheld in court because of the extremely confronting details.
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The man accused of killing international student Aiia Maasarwe has briefly returned to court.
Codey Herrmann, 20, didn’t say anything in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday, his second appearance since being charged with rape and murder over the January 16 attack.
Herrmann made no application for bail during the brief hearing, during which the prosecutor withdrew an application for a compulsory procedure, likely a DNA sample.
He also requested specific details of the attack on the Palestinian Arab of Israeli citizenship be withheld until police have been able to give them to the 21-year-old’s family.
“The informant wishes to have that dealt with in a sensitive manner before it’s given to the media,” he said.
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Magistrate Jonathan Klestadt approved the move.
“It would be very confronting for the family to be made aware of those specifics through media reports,” he said.
Ms Maasarwe’s body was found near the Polaris shopping centre at Bundoora last Wednesday morning, a short distance from where she got off the 86 tram. She was returning from an evening in the city.
Herrmann’s lawyer Guillaume Bailin did not make any submissions or note any custody management issues.
Mr Klestadt however noted Herrmann was an Aboriginal person and “may be vulnerable because of your age and appearance”.
It’s Herrmann’s first time in custody.
Police have been granted 12 weeks to compile their brief of evidence. Herrmann will reappear in court by video link for a committal mention on June 7.
Herrmann was arrested over Ms Maasarwe’s alleged murder after a local leading senior constable recognised the grey T-shirt and a hat with 1986 on it left at the crime scene and remembered Mr Herrmann had been wearing the same items four days earlier when he was stopped.
Mr Herrmann had been on bail for minor offences and police were able to track him down within an hour, charging him with the international student’s alleged rape and murder.
While officers have reportedly praised the quick-thinking action, according to The Age, Victoria’s outdated laws where police would no longer need court approval to get DNA samples were supposed to go through parliament last year. But a stall in legislation in Victoria, which is behind other states in enacting the law, meant police did not have DNA from Mr Herrmann’s previous arrests.
There are more than 55,000 crime scene DNA profiles held by police that do not match any person’s profile.
It comes as the Victorian coroner is expected to release the 21-year-old’s body today.
Her father, Saeed Maasarwe, had asked for his daughter’s body to be released so he could lay her to rest.
He was among hundreds of mourners at a tribute held on Sunday.
The day before about 1000 people gathered outside a mosque in Israel calling for her return, chanting “we need Aiia home” and “we are all Aiia’s sisters, Aiia is the daughter of all of us”.
“The Land Wants Aiia Back,” read some of the placards, while others called for an end to violence against women across the globe.
Her sisters also revealed chilling new details about her death including sounds of “screaming and screaming” as Aiia was apparently attacked.
Aiia’s sister Ruba spoke further of the disturbing FaceTime phone call the two were having when Aiia dropped the phone and Ruba never heard from her again.
Hours later, about 7am Melbourne time last Wednesday, a passer-by found Aiia’s half-naked body near the Polaris Shopping Centre in the northern Melbourne suburb of Bundoora.
Ruba Maasarwe recalled Aiia’s final late-night safety call during an interview on Israeli TV station Channel 13.
“We spoke on the phone on FaceTime,” Ruba said.
We spoke about the stand-up comedy she saw and when we would next meet.
“Suddenly I heard her scream.
“I heard vehicles in the background of the call like there was a phone on the floor.
“There was no sign during the conversation of the horror about to happen.
“I heard her screaming and screaming and then the call was cut off.’”
Her other sister Noor Maasarwe had been watching the news in Israel when she suspected the young woman found dead was Aiia.
Police have said Aiia, a Palestinian citizen of Israel living and studying in Melbourne, died of head injuries and had suffered blunt-force trauma.
They now believe the alleged attack was random and the young woman was not stalked or followed home on the tram from where she had been attending the comedy show in Melbourne’s CBD, back to Bundoora where she was staying.
The Sunday Herald Sun reported certain details of the rape were so gruesome police asked that they be removed from court documents.
Leading Sen-Constable Craig Williams told the court: “I don’t think it would be appropriate that be released.
“Some of the specific words in there aren’t known to the family.’’
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