Daniel Clulow death: Maddison Day, Holly Powers, Mariah Powell admit helping wanted man Darren Butler
Three young, glamorous women have admitted they teamed up to assist a man wanted over the alleged murder of Illawarra dad-of-seven Daniel Clulow.
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Three young, glamorous women have admitted they teamed up to assist a man wanted over the alleged murder of an Illawarra dad-of-seven, helping him get his hands on a hotel room, drugs, cash and transport.
The three women, Mariah Powell, Holy Powers and Maddison Day, each plead guilty to one charge of hinder apprehension of person who committed serious indictable offence in Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday, after they each assisted 27-year-old Darren Butler in his alleged two-week run from the law following the death of 27-year-old Daniel Clulow.
Mr Clulow, also known as Daniel Merrett, was killed on May 18 last year, after the car he was travelling in crashed into the back of a petrol tanker, while allegedly being chased and shot at by another vehicle. Mr Clulow died at the scene of the horrific crash, suffering from severe head and brain injuries, while the three other people in the car were seriously injured.
Police allege Mr Clulow’s car was being chased by Butler, Andrew Russell and Holly Green, following a dispute with Mr Clulow about a sum of money. It will be alleged Russell fired shots at the vehicle from a rifle, while Butler was driving the car.
Butler, who police allege spent almost two weeks on the run after a warrant was issued for his arrest, was eventually charged with a single count of murder, two counts of dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, and dangerous driving occasioning death, while Russell is also facing a charge of murder, robbery while armed and a new charge of fire firearm in a public place.
In documents tendered to the court, it’s alleged Butler went to ground for almost two weeks after Mr Clulow’s death, enlisting the help of his girlfriend Powers, as well as Day and Powell, who had been warned by police not to assist him.
Phone taps tendered to the court revealed the women knew Butler had been involved in the horrific crash and that was “gonna get done for murder”, but still helped him for days, at one stage Powell even helping him cross the border back into NSW after hiding out in Victoria.
On May 20, court documents reveal Powers and Day worked together to organise accommodation for Butler at the Jamberoo Resort, which was raided by police before he could even check in.
That same day, police warned both Day and Powers that they would be charged if they assisted or harboured Butler in any way, however, they both denied any contact with him.
Shaken by the events in prior days, Powers contacted her boss that evening, telling her she couldn’t go to work because of the unfolding situation.
“The guy I was seeing like … it involves him so I’ve … I didn’t …. I mean like I knew how serious it was but like I just don’t know me head’s been everywhere since it happened,” she said in part of the conversation.
‘’ … like its f***in pretty much a murder investigation.”
An excert of a conversation between Powers and her boss
On May 20, its alleged Butler stole an associate’s Nissan Navara. On May 21, when Powers, Day and the owner of the vehicle were together, they received a phone call from a mystery man, who told the owner of the car to transfer the registration to Butler, saying “if you don’t your family’s gone”.
The owner of the car agreed, and with Day’s encouragement, wrote on a piece of paper that he sold the car to Butler for $10,000 in the days prior.
Powell later called Powers to see if they had transferred the registration online saying “can you please make sure he does it babe …. It covers his tracks too like it’s a win, win situation pretty much.”
It’s alleged on that day, Butler and Green used the Navara to flee to Victoria, prompting Powell to drive to Melbourne in a white Mitsubishi van on May 23 to retrieve the pair.
Investigators said Butler was no longer in the vehicle when highway patrol officers intercepted the van at Yass at 6.30pm the following day, however Powell was found in possession of letters from Butler and Green to their respective families.
On May 26, Butler contacted Powers again, saying he needed some “rocks”, understood to be methylamphetamine, from Day and that he would pick them up shortly after.
Later that evening, Powers and Butler got into an argument over text, with Powers taking offence at the suggestion he was “on the run” with another woman, Holly Green, who was also wanted for her role in the fatal crash.
“You’re f***in on the run with another girl … like what do you f***ing want me to think,” she said.
“Yeah well if you was in the car too, you’d be in the car too …. She was in the car when the f***ing accident happened,” Butler responded.
Despite the tiff, the pair got back in contact on May 30, when they were arrested with Matthew Ryan following a dramatic police pursuit through Figtree.
While Powers, Day and Powell have pleaded guilty, Butler and Russell are yet to enter pleas.
Green and Ryan who are also facing a charge of hinder apprehension, will return to court in May where it’s expected they too will enter pleas.
Day, Powell and Powers are now set to be sentenced in the NSW District Court.