Sharri Williams: Fresh charge over John Warburton death
A mother-of-two accused of helping her ex-partner in the aftermath of the alleged fatal stabbing of John Warburton at Cartwright could be released on bail within a month.FULL DETAILS
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A bail hearing for a young mother allegedly involved in the brutal murder of John Warburton has been adjourned until the prosecution decides if they will accept her offer to plead guilty to a lesser charge.
Sharri Lee Williams, 30, is accused of aiding her ex de facto partner, Eddie Castro, in the aftermath of the alleged murder of the 45-year-old man in a dimly-lit laneway in Sydney’s southwest.
Castro, 37, the father of her two children, was allegedly wielding the machete and stabbed the victim in the leg during the brutal October 2019 attack.
A court previously heard the victim left a trail of blood as he attempted to crawl back to a nearby home in Cartwright and bled to death.
Williams was originally charged with murder for the violent death of Warburton but the charge was withdrawn and dismissed in April.
In its place, police charged Williams with accessory after the fact of murder, and an alternate charge of accessory after the fact of assault occasioning death, both in relation to Castro.
Williams was hunched over and timid in the video room at the Mary Wade Correctional Centre, from which she appeared to the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Judge Christine Adamson conceded that if the crown accepted Williams’ offer to plead guilty to assault occasioning death charge, she would be sentenced relatively soon and would likely become a witness in the case against her ex-partner.
If they did not accept the offer, Judge Adamson suggested, she could be released on bail to a drug rehabilitation centre into which she has been tentatively accepted.
The bail hearing was adjourned until October 9 before Judge Adamson.
In arguing against bail, Crown prosecutor Jessica Yates told the court not only did Williams assist Castro after the commission of the murder but she also allegedly colluded with him in creating a version of events they would tell police and investigators.
Ms Yates told the court there was a “significant wealth of evidence” in telephone intercepts and calls to Castro in jail.
She also alleged Williams constructed alibis with her grandmother, the woman who raised her, around the events.
Williams has not been charged with perverting the course of justice or interfering with a witness, which Judge Adamson called “a bit odd” based on the police material.
The mother-of-two has been behind bars since October 16, 2019, and Castro also remains behind bars.
Two other co-accused have are also before the courts in relation to the murder.