Cold case continues three years after 47-year-old woman’s body was discovered outside Katherine courthouse
A coronial inquest into a woman’s death that has haunted a Territory town for three years has been cancelled due to the ongoing ‘police investigation’. Read the latest here.
A coronial inquest into the death of a woman found outside an Territory outback courthouse has been cancelled due to a police investigation into the three-year-old cold case.
Last week NT coroner Elisabeth Armitage announced that the inquest into the death of a 47-year-old woman in Katherine on August 6, 2022 had been vacated, just weeks out from the four-day hearing in December.
The coroner announced an investigation into the woman’s death in February, citing the inquiry’s area of focus as the “uncertain circumstances surrounding (her) death”.
On Wednesday her inquest was cancelled, with no future date set.
“A decision as to whether the matter will be relisted for inquest at a later date will be made by the Coroner once the Police investigation has concluded,” a spokesman said.
In 2022 NT Police said the 47-year-old was discovered unconscious and non-responsive on the corner of Giles St and First St, in Katherine — just metres from the local courthouse.
Staff from a nearby business found the woman’s body, and she was taken to Katherine hospital.
The 47-year-old passed away the following day.
Police only publicly disclosed the investigation into her death 14 days later, with Katherine Criminal Investigation Branch Detective Senior Sergeant Paul Lawson calling for witnesses to help police identify her movements prior to her death.
On Wednesday, NT Police confirmed the Northern Investigation Section were “still investigating this death” three years later.
“Police can confirm there have been no arrests or charges,” a spokesman confirmed.
NT Police said the investigation into her death was never closed, and has been ongoing since 2022.
The 47-year-old woman was raised in Timber Creek, 285km west of Katherine, however NT News has chosen not to name her without her family’s consent.
In a Katherine Local Court hearing in 2021 Judge Stephen Geary said the woman had clearly led a “tough life” and had managed to largely keep out of trouble.
