Paul Ross Charlton facing murder trial over 2007 death of Joanne Howell

Joanne Howell told friends she’d given her “absolute pr**k” of a boyfriend four weeks to move out hours before she was brutally beaten to death in Hughesdale.

The property in Poath Road, Hughesdale where Joanne Howell was murdered.

Murdered woman Joanne Howell told friends she’d given her “absolute pr**k” of a boyfriend four weeks to move out just hours before she was found brutally beaten to death in her Hughesdale home.

Paul Ross Charlton claims he was out walking the dog after the pair had a heated argument and returned home to find his partner dead at the bottom of the stairs, on April 21, 2007.

On the first day of his Supreme Court murder trial on Tuesday, the court heard Mr Charlton, then 53, called triple-0 about 11.20pm stating he’d found Ms Howell bloodied and cold to the touch, and the garage door broken open.

In an interview with police, he said he’d taken the dog for a walk between 9.15pm to 9.30pm after she’d called him a “f***wit and an arsehole” and switched off the TV he was watching, throwing the remote out the back door.

Joanne Howell allegedly had a heated argument with her boyfriend Paul Ross Charlton before her death.

Also at 9.15pm, the court heard a neighbour watching a movie reported an “unfamiliar sound” from Ms Howell’s unit, “heavy sounds, sort of a thud”.

“That’s where the body was found,” said prosecutor Patrick Bourke KC.

Mr Charlton was released by police pending further inquiries, only to be charged with her murder 14 years later.

Mr Bourke KC told the jury that on the day she was found dead, Ms Howell had complained to three friends about Mr Charlton.

Ms Howell was found brutally beaten to death in her Hughesdale home.

That morning, Catherine Tormey visited Ms Howell at her Hughesdale unit and would say her friend reported she “couldn’t handle him anymore”.

“He’s got four weeks to leave the house,” Ms Howell told Ms Tormey, as Mr Charlton entered the kitchen where the pair of friends were talking.

“I’ve told you that before,” Ms Howell said.

The accused killer responded by giving a ‘Heil Hitler salute’ before leaving the kitchen.

Later that day, the court heard Ms Howell spoke on the phone to another two friends, one of whom she told that Mr Charlton had “been an absolute prick to her over the last week or so and she doesn’t want to spend the rest of her life with him”.

Ms Howell was invited by this friend to come over for dinner but she declined the offer, saying she wouldn’t be good company.

Hours later, authorities would interview her boyfriend as she lay dead on the floor.

In the house, the court heard police found a letter written by Ms Howell about her relationship with her accused murderer.

“Paul I want to make it clear to you this is not just another argument,” she wrote.

“I am not continuing with this relationship for the following reasons.”

Mr Charlton was released by police pending further inquiries, and charged in January 2021.

Defence barrister Megan Tittensor SC said Mr Charlton maintained his innocence, and that police took the “easy first option” in blaming the boyfriend.

She said there was “no dispute” that the couple was arguing the night of Ms Howell’s murder.

“The issue in the case is who caused the death,” Ms Tittensor said.

She called on the jury to “keep an open mind” stating that other people, including those known to the police, had “motive and opportunity to kill her”.

The trial, before Justice James Dudley Elliott, is expected to run for three weeks.