Danielle Easey murder trial delayed for accused Justin Dilosa and Carol McHenry

The trial of friends charged with murdering young mother Danielle Easey has been delayed even before it started, with the panel of 12 jurors discharged.

The family of a young mother, who was allegedly stabbed to death then wrapped in plastic and dumped in a creek, may have to wait another nine months for a trial of the pair charged with killing her.

Carol Marie Dawson McHenry, 32 and Justin Kent Dilosa, 33, pleaded not guilty to the horrific murder of Danielle Easey more than two years ago.

Ms Easey’s body was found wrapped in plastic and dumped in a muddy creek near Killingworth, west of Newcastle, on August 31 in 2019 by a passing motorist after it lay there for a fortnight.

Carol Marie Dawson McHenry denies her involvement in the alleged murder. Picture: Facebook

An autopsy revealed she had allegedly been seriously assaulted and stabbed.

Dilosa and McHenry fronted the NSW Supreme Court in Newcastle on Monday for the trial to go ahead with opening submissions, but the panel of 12 jurors was ultimately discharged, with one juror singled out for their connection with the family of one of the accused.

Justice Helen Wilson took the immediate step to discharge that juror, with reasoning that it might “compromise the fairness of the whole process”.

She then went on to inform the 11 remaining jurors their services were no longer needed, discharging the entire panel.

“Justice must be seen to be done, and there must be confident that all jurors are completely impartial,” Justice Wilson told the jurors.

Danielle Easey, whose body was found in a creek near Newcastle. Credit: NSW Police

“I regret the decision that I will discharge all of you, to proceed with trial at another time with different a jury.

“The accused is entitled to a jury of 12. We simply can’t proceed.”

It means the prospect of the trial to recommence in Newcastle will not be before August 1 next year, or July 4 if it went ahead in Sydney.

A fixed trial date and venue will be decided when it goes back to court next month.

The trial has been estimated to run for about five weeks.

Crime scene at home on Reeves St in relation to the murder of Danielle Easey. (AAP Image/Sue Graham)

Police allege Ms Easey was stabbed in the back and neck, and beaten to death with a hammer at a home in Reeves St, Narara, on August 17.

Dilosa, of Cardiff, was the first person arrested in September 2019 during a raid at an old chicken processing plant at Cardiff where he was living in a caretaker’s cottage. He has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder.

His former partner McHenry, a mother of four, pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder but has pleaded guilty to an alternate charge of accessory after the fact to murder.

Police allege McHenry had impersonated Ms Easey on social media in the weeks following her gruesome death.