Maureen Boyce death: Thomas Lang appears in court charged with socialite’s murder
THE lawyer for a retired doctor accused of killing a Brisbane socialite says no forensic evidence ties him to the murder weapon.
A KNIFE found embedded in the stomach of a Brisbane socialite last year did not bear the fingerprints of the retired doctor accused of her murder, a court has heard.
Maureen Boyce, 68, a former model and mother-of-two, was found dead in her multi-million dollar apartment in the inner Brisbane suburb of Kangaroo Point, on October 22 last year.
Retired doctor Thomas Lang, 63, an American man who is believed to have rekindled a romantic relationship with Ms Boyce in the two years before her death, has been charged with her murder.
He had reportedly been staying with the socialite at her apartment at the time of her death.
In a committal hearing in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday, Mr Lang’s lawyer, Terry O’Gorman, said there was no forensic evidence to link his client to the murder weapon.
He said the fatal wound could have been self-inflicted, or inflicted by another person.
“The prosecution case is that Mr Lang’s fingerprints are nowhere on that knife,” he said.
Magistrate Belinda Merrin was told a key issue would be Ms Boyce’s mental health around the time of her death.
Mr O’Gorman said Lang told police Ms Boyce had high expectations her luxury unit, which she’d been trying to sell since June that year, would find a buyer after an inspection on October 21.
She was “considerably upset” when it failed to do so, the court heard.
Ms Boyce was listed as the sole owner of the 420-square metre, 20th-floor apartment, despite still being married to the father of her two children at the time of her death.
She had listed it for sale in the July prior to her death.
At one stage, it had an asking price of $3.7 million.
Mr O’Gorman said there was also evidence the socialite had phone conversations with two friends, including high-profile businesswoman Sarina Russo, prior to her death, in which she told them she was depressed.
The court was told Lang and Ms Boyce met in the United States 30 years ago and began a relationship.
They re-established contact in 2013 when Lang was living in New Zealand.
They would often make trips to visit each other, Mr O’Gorman said.
Ms Lang was a fixture on the Brisbane social scene, particularly at race meetings, which she and husband Graham attended over many years.
She had been renowned as one of Brisbane’s top models in the 1970s.
The hearing continues.