Jake Anderson-Brettner murder: Gemma Elizabeth Clark admits she knew he had been killed

The woman who acted to conceal the murder of Launceston man Jake Anderson-Brettner has pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and failing to report the killing.

Gemma Elizabeth Clark pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and failing to report the killing in the Supreme Court in Launceston.

THE woman who acted to conceal the murder of Launceston man Jake Anderson-Brettner has pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and failing to report the killing.

Gemma Elizabeth Clark, who was 24 at the time, cried throughout much of Friday’s proceedings at the Supreme Court in Launceston, which heard she acted to cover up the crime for four days after Mr Anderson-Brettner was allegedly murdered at a house in the suburb of Riverside.

Jake Anderson-Brettner.

Part of Mr Anderson-Brettner’s body was found off the Tasman Highway near Myrtle Park, northeast of Launceston, on August 19 last year.

The court heard Clark knew Mr Anderson-Brettner, 24, had been killed four days earlier.

Jack Harrison Vincent Sadler has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Anderson-Brettner and is likely to face trial before the Supreme Court in Launceston later this year.

Clark’s barrister Evan Hughes said his client felt “genuine remorse” for her involvement in the killing and that she intended to give evidence at Mr Sadler’s trial.

The court heard Clark had no prior criminal convictions, had a good employment history and aspired to become a primary school teacher before Mr Anderson-Brettner’s murder.

Clark had deferred her university studies at the time of his death.

Mr Anderson-Brettner’s mother Claudette read a victim impact statement aloud in court while his fiancee, Katlyn Roney, provided Justice Robert Pearce with a statement for him to read.

The Supreme Court has barred publication of any further details of the case until proceedings involving Mr Sadler are completed, to protect his right to a fair trial.

Clark is due to be sentenced on Thursday.