Isabela Camelo-Gomez: Daughter pleads not guilty to alleged murder of Irene Jones
A court has heard the alleged cold case murder trial of Irene Jones could last up to three months. It comes as Ms Jones's daughter Isabela Camelo-Gomez pleaded not guilty to the charge.
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UPDATE
A woman from Sydney’s eastern suburbs has pleaded not guilty to the alleged cold case murder of her mum in 2001 and is set to fight the murder charge at a lengthy trial.
A court heard on Friday the trial of Isabela Carolina Camelo-Gomez could last up to three months when it gets underway in January 2022 with plenty of “complexities” to consider in the historic case.
Camelo-Gomez, 46, from Bondi Junction, was charged in 2019 with the murder of her mum Irene Jones.
Her mother was allegedly strangled and stabbed in her Lansvale home in southwest Sydney in November 2001, aged 56.
No-one was charged by police in the years following her death.In 2017, detectives from the Unsolved Homicide Unit reinvestigated the case which led to Camelo-Gomez being charged.Camelo-Gomez, who formerly went by the name Megan Jones, appeared before the NSW Supreme Court on Wednesday for arraignment.
Wearing all black, she beamed into the courtroom through a video link and rose to her feet to enter a plea of not guilty.
Justice Robert Hulme accepted the plea and set down a trial date in January 2022.“It won’t be this year,” Justice Hulme said of the trial.
“It will be a trial date next year, I can’t fit three months worth of trial in (this year).”
The court heard the defence and prosecution had been unable to agree on an estimated length of time for the murder trial, which could last up to three months.
“My estimate is it may take as long as three months,” Camelo-Gomez’s lawyer said.
“Because of the age of the matter it does have some of the complexities of historical matters.”
Rather than delay the matter for a third time in the Supreme Court, for a better estimate to be given, Judge Hulme decided to set the trial date down to begin on January 31 next year.Camelo-Gomez was 27 at the time of her mother’s death. She remains on bail.
EARLIER
BY GARY HAMILTON-IRVINE ON FEBRUARY 12, 2021
'EXPERT EVIDENCE' PENDING IN ALLEGED COLD CASE MURDER
A highly-anticipated trial for an alleged Sydney cold case murder dating back 20 years has been delayed in the NSW Supreme Court but could go ahead later this year.
Isabela Carolina Camelo-Gomez, 46, from Bondi Junction, was charged in 2019 over the murder of her mother 20 years ago in southwest Sydney.
Her mother, Irene Jones, was allegedly strangled and stabbed in her Lansvale home in November 2001, aged 56.
No-one was charged by police in the years following her death.However, in 2017, detectives from the Unsolved Homicide Unit launched a reinvestigation of the case which led to Camelo-Gomez being charged with murder.
She was committed for trial in October last year after her lawyer indicated she would be entering a plea of not guilty.
However, her arraignment date has since been pushed back twice in the NSW Supreme Court.
Camelo-Gomez’s lawyer told the court on Friday that there was “still expert evidence being served” in the matter.
The court heard a possible trial date could be set down for the second half of this year before Judge Robert Hulme adjourned her arraignment until April.
Camelo-Gomez was aged 27 and named Megan Jones at the time of her mother’s death. She remains on bail.
At a previous court hearing back in June 2020 it was heard Camelo-Gomez, 45, from Bondi Junction, was charged with murder in September last year.
During a bail hearing, following her arrest, police alleged in court that Camelo-Gomez had made admissions “of a guilty conscience” and she once stated “could you find someone to kill mum for me” to a man known to her.
The prosecutor told the court the brief of evidence – which will form the police court case against Camelo-Gomez – was still growing and it was a “complex murder matter”.
The prosecutor said the brief of evidence was already 15 volumes in size.
“This is a very large brief and does date back to 2001,” Camelo-Gomez’s lawyer said.
Magistrate Vivien Swain was initially reluctant to delay the matter any further but agreed to adjourn the matter until July 9.
Camelo-Gomez remains on bail.
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