Valmai Birch’s body allegedly found ‘hogtied, upside down’ in wheelie bin
Police allege Valmai Birch died after an argument with her former partner David Bagster, who’s allegedly hogtied her body and stuffed it into a wheelie bin.
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Police allege the former boyfriend of drug-addicted prostitute Valmai Birch tried to dispose of her body in a household wheelie bin, after she died during a fight over the sharing of some heroin.
David Bagster, 52, was arrested at his Kiama home and charged with manslaughter, more than eight years after Ms Birch’s body was found upside and decomposing in a wheelie bin inside her Woonona apartment.
Bagster, her de facto partner at the time of her death was a suspect, but was not charged. That changed on Tuesday, when police swooped on Bagster’s home and took him into police custody.
The 52-year-old was refused bail at Wollongong Local Court late on Tuesday afternoon, where further details about the alleged crime were revealed.
According to a set of police facts tendered to the court, the pair met in 2010, after they were introduced by a friend. While it’s alleged they were in an intimate on-and-off relationship until Ms Birch’s death, acording to court documents their relationship was characterised by drug use, arguments, violence and group sex.
In 2010, Birch moved into the Woods Ave apartment at Woonona, with Bagster, until he later moved out in January 2011.
During their time living together, police facts alleged neighbours heard the pair fighting several times, sounding like they were under the influence of drugs or alcohol. During a later interview with police, Bagster allegedly confirmed he and Ms Birch were heavy users of heroin, meth, cannabis and prescription drugs.
According to court documents, prior to her death Ms Birch made several claims Bagster had allegedly tied her up or restrained her against her will, on one occasion telling an associate “Dave put me in a bin and started banging the outside of the bin. I couldn’t get out …”
Not long after this incident, it’s alleged another Woods Ave neighbour heard Bagster threatening to kill Ms Birch.
Police will allege Bagster and Ms Birch’s relationship was “volatile”. Just months prior to her death, Ms Birch met with a friend at a Wollongong cafe, where she allegedly told them “Dave” was “into bondage and discipline, he likes being the master.”
According to court documents, one month later, Ms Birch allegedly aired further concerns about her relationship, confiding in her friends that Bagster had been tying her up in the Woonona apartment.
“I woke up the other day and I was hogtied,” Ms Birch allegedly said. “I had been asleep and he tied me up while I was sleeping, then he f***ing left me like this for five hours.”
Police will allege that in a later interview Bagster confirmed he and Ms Birch engaged in group sex, but denied he had ever assaulted or restrained her. Police facts alleged he suggested the injuries her friends and associates had noticed were the result of Ms Birch’s work as a prostitute.
While Ms Birch’s body was found by police on March 22, she was last seen alive on March 9, captured on CCTV footage at Wollongong train station.
According to police facts, a search of Ms Birch’s home after her death uncovered a five-page handwritten by Bagster to Birch, describing the events of that day.
After meeting with a friend, the pair purchased some heroin, which they all planned to share later that day.
The trio allegedly boarded a northbound train at Wollongong railway station after Bagster warned them not to “rort” him of his share.
Bagster later told police he got off the train at Bellambi about 10.30am, while Ms Birch continued to Woonona, which he maintains is the last time he saw his on-again off-again girlfriend alive.
Bagster allegedly told police he went home after the train trip and had nothing further to do with Birch, but police will allege his letter painted a different story.
Around 3pm on the same day, Ms Birch was allegedly found on Woods Ave in a “stupor” and was assisted by neighbours into her apartment. Bagster’s letter allegedly said he returned to Ms Birch’s apartment around 7pm, where he found her lying naked in her home.
The day later on March 10, a witness allegedly saw Bagster trying to gain access to Ms Birch’s apartment, but said he was unable to get in so left on foot.
On March 21, Bagster visited another friend on Woods Ave, and said he was concerned for Ms Birch, telling the friend he hadn’t seen her in “two or three weeks”.
It’s alleged he left a note on her front door, before telling the same friend it “f***ing stinks over there.”
A neighbour reported the smell to police the following day. Upon arrival police facts say the apartment “was in darkness” and that extraction fans in the kitchen and bathroom had been activated.
Police went to the bathroom, where they made the gruesome discovery of Ms Birch’s body, which had been submerged in water inside a recycling wheelie bin.
After Ms Birch’s body was removed from the bin, it was established she was wearing a dark coloured dress with white piping on the shoulder straps. Police will allege this was the exact dress she was last seen wearing on March 9. Her body had been hogtied in the bin, with a material allegedly binding her right ankle to a piece of material around her waist.
A post mortem examination did not identify a cause of death due to the level of decomposition, but was deemed suspicious.
Subsequent forensic examination allegedly located Bagster’s fingerprints inside the upper lid of the bin.
On May 11, 2011 Bagster was interviewed at Wollongong Police Station, where it’s alleged he told police he occasionally moved Ms Birch’s wheelie bin to wash it.
After further investigation, police arrested and charged Bagster on October 1, 2019, alleging he was involved in Ms Birch’s death on May 9, 2011 after a dispute over the sharing of heroin.
It will be alleged that sometime after 4pm that day, Bagster hog tied Ms Birch inside her home with “reckless indifference” for her life, and caused her death by asphyxiation or other means. It will be further alleged he returned to the scene the apartment on March 10 to dispose of the body, where he manoeuvred the wheelie bin inside, stuffed Ms Birch’s body into it, and turned on the kitchen and bathroom fans to mask the smell.
In court on Tuesday, Bagster indicated he would fight the charges against him, denying the allegations.
The matter will return to court in November.