The brother of a man accused of killing his neighbour has allegedly set fire to his family home days before he was meant to provide crucial evidence in the case against his sibling.
John Torney, 40, faced Melbourne Magistrates’ Court via video link on Tuesday for what was meant to be the start of his committal hearing over the death of Cobram woman Emma Bates.
Emma Bates was found dead in her home in Cobram, in Victoria’s north, in April last year.
However, the court heard that the hearing would be delayed for another four months because two key witnesses – Torney’s younger brother and his mother, Belinda Torney – were no longer available to provide evidence following the house fire.
Police initially charged John Torney with assault-related offences, including intentionally causing injury, several counts of assault and breaching a court order.
An additional charge of negligent manslaughter was laid against Torney in December.
Bates, who had type 1 diabetes, was found dead in her bedroom inside her home in Cobram – 220 kilometres north of Melbourne, near the NSW-Victoria border – on April 23 last year.
She had injuries consistent with being assaulted, including bruising and a lump under her left eye, a large gash on the top of her head and cuts on her nose, according to documents previously submitted to the court.
Torney is alleged to have moved into Bates’ home in the weeks before her death.
On Tuesday, prosecutor Matthew Cookson asked for the committal hearing to be adjourned, citing “dramatic” and unforeseen circumstances.
The court was told the younger brother of Torney allegedly set fire to his mother’s home in Cobram on Sunday afternoon.
John Torney has been charged with negligent manslaughter in relation to Emma Bates’ death.Credit: Sunraysia Daily
He is alleged to have set fire to the brown brick home when police arrived to conduct a welfare check, with the blaze quickly getting out of control. The 27-year-old man was taken to hospital under police guard, and the court was told he has been charged over the fire.
The man’s mother, Belinda Torney, who was also due to be a key witness in the court proceedings this week, was at the house at the time and also taken to hospital.
She is understood to be physically unharmed, but has lost her home and all her belongings. Cookson said she was not in a fit mental state to provide evidence this week.
Last October, a court hearing at Shepparton Magistrates’ Court was told that three days before Bates was found dead, Torney’s brother and mother, who lived next door, could hear him arguing with her.
Concerned for Bates’ safety, the brother went to her house, where he found her with a bloodied and swollen lip and Torney yelling at her.
He later alleged to police that Torney had told him he had punched Bates in the face and that Bates had asked him not to leave her alone with Torney, the court heard.
Torney then allegedly threatened his sibling, telling him he would “chop Bates up” and make him bury “the bits and pieces of her body in the bush”.
At the same hearing, the court heard evidence from police that his mother allegedly told investigators: “People say I’m making him out to be a monster … that’s because he is a monster.”
The hearing was told Torney’s family was so fearful of him they allegedly said if he was freed on bail they intended to go on the run.
In the days before the 39-year-old woman’s body was found, the court was also told, Torney had allegedly told his mother that Bates was unwell and not waking up.
His mother had said he should call an ambulance and asked whether Bates’ skin was warm or cold.
Torney allegedly responded: “She’s not dead. She’s breathing.”
Torney allegedly said he did not want to call an ambulance because he had punched Bates in the forehead several times, leaving her with marks on her face, the court heard last year.
His mother allegedly said he was “better off being charged with punching her rather than with her murder”.
Torney’s barrister, Hayden Rattray, said on Tuesday that his client had already been in custody for more than a year and argued the case could proceed without the two prosecution witnesses.
However, magistrate Stephen Ballek said the circumstances before the court were extreme and he allowed the adjournment. Torney was remanded to appear in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in October for a four-day committal hearing.
In 2016, Torney was found not guilty of murdering his former partner’s daughter, two-year-old Nikki Francis Coslovich, in their Mildura home in Victoria’s north-west. The two-year-old girl’s badly beaten body was discovered in the roof cavity of the house.
If you or anyone you know needs support, you can contact the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732), Lifeline 131 114, or Beyond Blue 1300 224 636.