Paul Charlton freed on bail over alleged murder of Joanne Howell

Police have revealed how they pieced together a case against the ex-boyfriend of a TV singer killed in her home.

The former boyfriend of slain Melbourne TV singer and mum Joanne Howell has been freed on bail, as details emerged of how police were able to charge him with her murder 14 years on.

Paul Charlton, 66, was granted bail in the Supreme Court last week on strict conditions he live at his Casterton home in the state’s southwest, report three times a week to police, and have his partner cough up a $215,000 surety.

His new-found freedom comes after the court heard for the first time the allegations against him and the key evidence police obtained through secret telephone intercepts to finally be able to charge him in January this year over the killing on April 21, 2007.

Mr Charlton allegedly told police Ms Howell was upstairs when he left home at 9.20pm to walk the dog, and when he returned, about 11.30pm, he found her dead at the base of the stairs.

He said he attempted CPR for five minutes and then called emergency services.

Joanne Howell.

A facefit released by police of a man they wanted to speak to over the murder.

Mr Charlton then tried to point the finger at Mark Spiers, Ms Howell’s ex boyfriend whose whereabouts were later accounted for by police.

But police allege he strangled Ms Howell to death after she had ended their relationship earlier that day, telling him to move into the spare room and giving him 30 days to move out.

The court heard he was interviewed at the time but police never had the evidence to charge him, even after a coronial inquiry in 2011 found he had contributed to her death,

But in a covert investigation in 2020 in which police intercepted Mr Charlton’s phone and planted listening devices in his home, investigators allegedly heard him tell his girlfriend and a journalist conducting an interview with him different accounts of what happened.

In one recorded conversation with his partner, he recounted arguing with Ms Howell that night but said they later sat on the couch in the garage and talked before she said she needed some space and suggested he take the dog for a walk.

The house where Ms Howell’s body was found. Picture: Joe Mann

“She said ‘We’ll work this out. I’ll call you when I’m ready for you to come back’,” Mr Charlton was allegedly recorded as saying.

“So f--- knows what she was doing in that time. For all I know she could have been, could have had someone coming around, to call in and she didn’t want me there.

“She said she’d call me. And she never called me. By about 11 o'clock I was starting to get concerned so I went back.”

In further conversations with his partner, he suggested for the first time Ms Howell’s death could be connected to her being involved in drug trafficking.

He claimed he saw someone in the front flower bed at the unit prior to her death, and observed that the flowers were squashed.

Police swooped on Mr Charlton on January 6 after they reviewed crime scene photographs and found no damage to the plants in the flower bed and the couch in the garage had items stacked across it with no room to sit.

He provided a “no comment” interview.

In granting him bail, Justice Andrew Tinney considered Mr Charlton’s lack of relevant prior convictions or breaches of bail laws, mental health and stable relationship and accommodation.

“The passage of these years, and the applicant’s good conduct in the interim, would go a long way to defusing any concerns that he would pose a risk of reoffending or absconding should bail be granted,” Justice Tinney said.