Justin Dilosa pleads not guilty to murder: Court hears of kidnap fears before Danielle Easey death

A former friend of a man accused of murdering Danielle Easey has told a jury about a conversation he had with the accused and the accused’s former girlfriend just metres from the alleged victim’s body.

Danielle Easey

A man has told the Danielle Easey murder trial that he heard two friends say they had been concerned they could have been victims of a home invasion and kidnapping, as well as identity theft, before the young mother was killed inside a Central Coast home.

Jeremy Princehorn told the NSW Supreme Court at Darlinghurst on Tuesday that he had walked into a bedroom of a Narara home in August 2019 and saw his friend Justin Dilosa near Ms Easey’s body on a bed.

Mr Princehorn said he had walked back out to a loungeroom where Dilosa’s former girlfriend Carol McHenry was sitting.

“I asked her who did it and she said she did it, she stabbed her,” Mr Princehorn told the court.

When asked if there was any other conversation at the time, Mr Princehorn replied “I think Justin came out after that and told me he did it as well, they both told me they did it.”

The crime scene at Narara. (AAP Image/Sue Graham)

Dilosa, now aged 37, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms 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, 29, had suffered multiple stab wounds and blunt force trauma caused by a blunt object such as a hammer.

Danielle Easey’s body was discovered in Cockle Creek at Killingworth.

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.

Crown prosecutor John Stanhope told the jury in his opening address that they would allege both Dilosa and McHenry were responsible for Ms Easey’s murder.

The trial heard on Tuesday that Mr Princehorn, a friend of Dilosa’s who had admitted to being an accessory after the fact to Ms Easey’s murder, had been affected by alcohol and drugs and had been awake for days when he visited the Narara home.

The visit – the day after the alleged murder – followed Dilosa and McHenry visiting Mr Princehorn’s home the previous night.

Police were called to Cockle Creek, near Wakefield Road, Killingworth, after members of the public saw an item wrapped in plastic floating in the water. The body has been identified as Danielle Easey.

When asked by Mr Stanhope if either gave a reason why Ms Easey was killed, Mr Princehorn replied: “I think Carol was going to get kidnapped or run in on, and identity theft as well.”

He said there was “apparently a group of blackfellas”, which could perform a home invasion.

“They were worried about Carol being kidnapped. Both of them were worried,” Mr Princehorn said.

Under cross-examination from defence barrister Angus Webb, Mr Princehorn said it was “possible” that Dilosa may have said “I don’t know what she has done” during a conversation around a fire at Princehorn’s Cardiff home on the night of the alleged murder.

The trial, before Justice Deborah Sweeney, continues.