Chol Bol Nyuon, 30, is the ‘only suspect’ in the killing of Canberra man Abot Mabil Derwei court told
A 30-year-old man due to face trial accused of taking part in a kidnapping and torture, is also the ‘only suspect’ in a separate homicide case.
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A man who is accused of taking part in the kidnapping and torture of a mate is also the “only suspect” in a killing at a Canberra public housing complex last year, a court has heard.
Chol Bol Nyuon, 30, fronted the ACT Supreme Court on Thursday where he was refused bail ahead of his June trial on charges of kidnapping and assault.
Nyuon and his co-accused, Clinton Saki and Mary Ayoul, are accused of varying roles in the nine-hour torture of Jacob Bol at a house in Moncrieff on October 2 last year, in which Mr Bol was tied up, choked and burnt with an iron.
All three have pleaded not guilty.
In court on Thursday, prosecutor Morgan Howe said Nyuon “remains a suspect, and indeed is the only suspect” in an unsolved homicide that took place at nearby Palmerston three days after the alleged torture.
Nyuon has not been charged with the killing of 34-year-old Abot Mabil Derwei, and Justice Michael Elkaim said he “placed no weight” on Nyuon’s status as a suspect in the case.
Mr Derwei, a father of four, had only recently moved to Canberra from Adelaide in search of more work and a better life.
Prosecutors will allege Nyuon slapped and punched Mr Bol in the face in between bouts of Saki burning him with the household iron.
According to court documents, Mr Bol was in so much pain he drifted in and out of consciousness during the ordeal, and was looking for a way to escape so he could kill himself and end the pain he was suffering.
Mr Howe on Thursday said Nyuon, Saki and Ayoul’s alleged torture of Mr Bol had caused a rift in Canberra’s “reasonably small” Sudanese community.
Mr Bol had recently been abused in the street by Ayoul’s mother, and lived in “heightened paranoia” which would only get worse if Nyuon was released from jail, Mr Howe said.
The court also heard Nyuon had also called a police officer a “maggot” at a previous court appearance.
Nyuon’s barrister, Beth Morrisroe, said her client had spend five months behind bars on remand over a crime he denies.
Justice Elkaim refused Nyuon bail because of his six convictions for failing to appear at court and his five breaches of bail last year.