Kingsley Alley Jr murder trial: Lawyers clash over evidence ahead of trial

Lawyers involved in a weeks-long murder trial due to start on Monday are still battling over what evidence can be included to prosecute the brutal death of teen dad Kingsley Alley Jr.

Madison Butler, Butler’s mother Melissa Jane Clancy, Dechlan Wurramarra, 20, and a then 17-year-old boy (not pictured) were all charged after Kingsley Alley J’s body was found bloodied and beaten on a Palmerston driveway on October 8, 2022.

Lawyers are still battling over what evidence can be included in a weeks long murder trial due to start Monday.

Four people have been charged with the alleged murder of teen dad Kingsley Alley Jr, whose body was found brutally beaten in a Palmerston driveway in October 2022.

Co-defendants Melissa Jane Clancy, 39, her daughter Madison Butler, 20, Dechlan Wurramarra, 22, and a boy aged 17 at the time of the alleged offence have all pleaded not guilty to murder.

A pre-trial hearing at the Northern Territory Supreme Court on Friday heard the Crown put “on notice” by defence counsel that certain evidence would be objected to during the trial unless a resolution could be reached.

Wurramarra’s lawyer Jon Tippett KC said he had received a large amount of autopsy and crime scene photos without sufficient accompanying explanations.

“I don’t know what I’m looking at,” he said.

“I’m putting the prosecution on notice I will be objecting to the evidence as it currently stands.”

18-year-old Kingsley 'Junior' Alley holding his newborn daughter Eleanor.

Crown prosecutor Steve Ledek argued the photos “speak for themselves” but said work was underway to better map the evidence.

“We (prosecution) can’t put a label on them, that would not be appropriate,” he said.

Justice Peter Barr said there was “tension” between delaying the start of the trial or asking the Crown to omit reference to contentious evidence in its opening statement – Mr Ledek ultimately agreeing it was preferable to go ahead as scheduled.

The trial, expected to take three or four weeks, has already been delayed from its initial listing in August this year, and more than two years since Mr Alley’s death.

The court also heard there was difficulty locating at least one witness.

“He was in Victoria, but where exactly – we have no idea,” Mr Ledek said.

Mr Alley, 18, was living in Driver and had recently become a father when he was fatally assaulted in the early hours of Saturday, October 8, 2022.

Originally published as Kingsley Alley Jr murder trial: Lawyers clash over evidence ahead of trial