Three front Shepparton court accused of Charlie Gander’s murder

The case against three people accused of the Christmas Eve murder of a teenager near Shepparton has been delayed due to the state of the victim’s body.

Charlie Gander’s body was found in a burning car near Shepparton. Picture: Facebook.

Three people accused of the Christmas Eve murder of a teenager whose body was found in a burnt out car near Shepparton have denied any involvement.

Danny Clarke, 38, and Kylie Stott, 37, both from Shepparton, and Dimitri D’Elio, 24, from Mooroopna, fronted Shepparton Magistrates Court on Tuesday for the first time since being charged with killing Charlie Gander.

The trio have each told homicide detectives when arrested on December 30 that they played no role in Mr Gander’s death.

The 19-year-old Warrnambool man was found in a burning vehicle on Loch Garry Rd in Bunbartha about 10am on December 24.

The court heard the case would be delayed as Mr Gander’s remains were so badly burnt that it would take 16 weeks for a forensic pathology report to be finalised.

Standard practice is that police provide a brief of evidence to defence counsel within six weeks, but the prosecution asked for triple that to allow for the report.

Danny Clarke will next front court in June. Picture: Facebook

Kylie Stott’s lawyer opposed the delay. Picture: Supplied

The move was opposed by Ms Stott’s lawyer who said it was “prejudicial” for her to remain in custody for such a long time without knowing the case against her.

Detective Senior Constable Alex Nucci told the court he would need 18 weeks to give the defence a full understanding of the seriousness of the allegations.

“There’s other avenues of inquiries to be made … that could go towards proving the case,” Senior Constable Nucci said.

When asked by magistrate David Faram if all the accused have denied involvement, Senior Constable Nucci said: “That’s correct.”

He said Ms Stott had provided “some comments”, including “a version of events”, in her record of interview but made no admissions.

Asked if there were any other persons of interest, Senior Constable Nucci said it was “still an ongoing investigation”.

He said there was “quite a few hours” of CCTV evidence to be formatted so they can view it, as well as extensive forensic analysis of items seized.

Mr Faram set a deadline of May 16 to prepare the brief, saying the matter goes nowhere without the pathology report.

“In the circumstances, that’s not unreasonable,” Mr Faram said.

Each of the accused’s lawyers requested they be seen by a custody nurse for mental health concerns.

The court heard it was Ms Stott’s first time in custody and that she was withdrawing from cannabis and methamphetamine.

She also suffers from post traumatic stress disorder and separation anxiety from her children, has chronic back pain from an earlier motor vehicle crash, and was at risk of self harm.

Mr Clarke also has been diagnosed with depression and anxiety, the court heard, with Mr D’Elio on antidepressants for depression.

They were remanded to return to court on June 27.