‘Physical evidence’ ties accused to lover’s stabbing death

The latest attempt by prosecutors to convict Scott Austic of murdering his pregnant lover included a string of physical evidence connecting him to the crime.

Scott Austic arrives at court.

The latest attempt by prosecutors to convict Scott Austic over the murder of his pregnant secret lover in Boddington in southwest Western Australia has focused on a string of physical evidence they say connects him to the crime.

Mr Austic had previously been convicted of stabbing Stacey Thorne to death in December 2007 before his conviction was set aside on appeal earlier this year.

The Court of Appeal’s judgment has been suppressed.

Prosecutor Justin Whalley delivered his opening address to the retrial on Wednesday, saying Mr Austic had the motive to kill Thorne and had lied to police.

He said Mr Austic initially told police he had been wearing a red Big Day Out T-shirt on the evening of the murder, but CCTV footage from the Boddington Hotel — where he had been drinking earlier that night — showed he was wearing different clothing.

Stacey Thorne was stabbed her 21 times before she stumbled 100m and died.

Police found remnants of clothing in a stove heater at Mr Austic’s share house along with fragments from a newspaper that had been printed no more than a few weeks earlier. Both of Mr Austic’s housemates had told police, Mr Whalley said, that neither of them had lit the stove for several months.

Mr Austic’s DNA was also found on the stove’s handle.

Mr Whalley said the fragments appeared to be from a Matilda Bay Brewing T-shirt “consistent at least in appearance” to the shirt worn by Mr Austic in CCTV footage.

The court heard Mr Austic and Thorne had been engaged in a casual sexual relationship for about a year at the time of her murder.

Thorne, Mr Whalley noted, was naked from the waist down and had first been stabbed in her bedroom. The woman suffered 21 stab wounds of varying severity.

Thorne was 24 weeks’ pregnant at the time of her murder.

A subsequent search of her phone found a text message from Mr Austic in which he pleaded with her to terminate the pregnancy, saying: “I will do anything for you not to have it.”

Mr Austic told police at the time that he had visited Thorne’s home for about 20 to 30 minutes on the night she was murdered, where they had sex before he went home.

He told police he did not sub­sequently leave his house that evening.

Mr Whalley said police had found an empty Jim Beam can outside Thorne’s home that appeared to have come from the same six-pack purchased by a housemate from the nearby town of Pinjarra and brought back to the share house that night.

The accused, Mr Whalley said, appeared to have drunk the can “to get Dutch courage” before stabbing Thorne to death.

Another empty Jim Beam can, found on the kitchen bench of Mr Austic’s home, had four traces of blood found to match either Thorne or a mixed profile of Thorne and Mr Austic.

Mr Whalley said police had found a knife with traces of blood in a paddock along the route between the homes of Thorne and Mr Austic . He noted the area was searched by State Emergency Service volunteers, saying “either they missed it or the search did not cover where it was found” before it was recovered by detectives.

Mr Whalley said the fact Thorne was first stabbed in her bedroom while naked from the waist down was consistent with the “security-conscious” Thorne knowing her killer, that killer being Mr Austic.

Mr Austic’s barrister, David Edwardson QC, will deliver his opening address to the trial on Thursday morning.