Justin Dilosa on trial for Danielle Easey’s murder

A man accused of brutally murdering a young mum allegedly told an associate he did it to stop “half of Newcastle and the Central Coast going to jail or killing each other”.

A man is on trial for the murder of Danielle Easey, whose body was found in Cockle Creek near Lake Macquarie in August 2019.

A man accused of participating in a young mother’s brutal murder after they had spent an evening smoking ice allegedly said he did it to “stop half of Newcastle and the Central Coast going to jail or killing each other”.

Justin Kent Dilosa, 36, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Danielle Easey, whose severely decomposed body was found dressed in a forensic-style suit and wrapped in a doona and plastic in Cockle Creek at Killingworth near Lake Macquarie in August 2019.

An autopsy confirmed Ms Easey, then 29, had suffered multiple stab wounds and blunt force trauma caused by a blunt object such as a hammer.

Dilosa has pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to Ms Easey’s murder – but is defending his murder charge at trial in the NSW Supreme Court.

At Darlinghurst Courthouse, barrister for the Crown John Stanhope told the jury they allege both Dilosa and his former partner, Carol McHenry, were responsible for Ms Easey’s murder.

Danielle Easey.

The court heard on August 16 2019, Easey and McHenry had travelled to Nowra to visit McHenry’s then-partner, Luke Wallace, in jail.

Telephone records show Easey made phone calls to her then-partner – a man named Benjamin Todd – when she was somewhere near Wyoming, on the Central Coast shortly before 4pm.

“No-one saw or heard from Danielle Easey again after that,” the Crown told the jury.

The Crown case is that Ms Easey, Dilosa and McHenry consumed drugs at McHenry’s Narara address together that night before both Dilosa and McHenry murdered her.

13 Reeves St Narara on September 20, 2019 as police investigated the suspected murder of Danielle Easey at the address. Picture: Sue Graham

Dilosa’s barrister Angus Webb said there was no dispute Dilosa had been present when a male associate named Jeremy Princehorn saw Easey’s dead body in a bed at the Narara address.

He also said there was no dispute Dilosa had thrown a large knife – which some of his associates referred to as a “pigstabber”, and which Dilosa was known to be fond of – into a bonfire at Princehorn’s Cardiff address.

Danielle Easey.

The Crown had earlier said Princehorn’s evidence would be that he was shocked, and asked “who killed her” or “who did it”.

“I expect (Princehorn) will tell you Carol McHenry said ‘I did it’, but then Justin Dilosa came in, and said ‘she didn’t do it, I did’,” Mr Stanhope said.

“I expect (Princehorn) will tell you there were some conversations while he was at the house about the deceased trying to get the house at Narara home invaded … he understood that to mean someone running in and assaulting the people inside.

“He was so shocked by what he had seen he was, firstly, fearful, and he wanted to curtail any involvement with Carol McHenry and Justin Dilosa.”

Mr Stanhope said the Crown will allege Dilosa further discussed Ms Easey’s death with another male associate.

“(Dilosa allegedly) said, ‘I want to tell you this before you hear it from anyone else’,” Mr Stanhope told the jury.

“(He continued) ‘That chick was no good, she was going to hurt my friends – I killed her’.”

Danielle Easey.

Dilosa will deny he dealt any of the killing blows in the fatal attack upon Ms Easey – and states he was not responsible for her murder at all.

But Dilosa will not dispute he put Ms Easey’s body into a black Mitsubishi van before the body was later noticed by passing motorists in the creek on August 31 2019.

Mr Stanhope said he expected a female witness – another former partner of Dilosa – would say they had exchanged messages shortly after Ms Easey’s death.

The Crown will allege Dilosa said: “What I did, ultimately, was to keep the kids safe but will also keep half of Newcastle and the Central Coast from going to jail or killing each other … it sounds far-fetched but I’ll explain when I see you”.

The trial continues.