By Anthony Colangelo & Anna Prytz
Adrian Basham, the man charged with the murder of his ex-wife Samantha Fraser in Cowes last week, has faced court in eastern Victoria.
Mr Basham, 41, made his first appearance at the Bairnsdale Magistrates Court on Thursday afternoon. He lives in nearby Paynesville.
Samantha Fraser
There was a large pack of media waiting for Mr Basham outside the court as he arrived.
Mr Basham exited the police vehicle crouched and with his head covered. He did not say anything and stayed crouched as he walked the few metres from the vehicle to the court entrance.
As the hearing began, Mr Basham sat in the dock wearing green chino pants and a black jacket. He had short, dark hair with some white, and was not animated while proceedings took place.
He occasionally looked around to those seated in the public gallery, of which most were reporters. He showed no sign of distress on his face and seemed relatively calm.
Mother-of-three Ms Fraser, 38, was found dead in the garage of her home in the seaside town on Phillip Island on Monday, July 23 after she did not pick up her two sons and daughter from the local primary school.
A post-mortem was conducted, and she was found to have suffered “assault injuries”. Police were also investigating whether the crime scene was tampered with. It is understood Ms Fraser was found with serious facial injuries but local police initially considered her death a suicide.
Mr Basham was spoken to by investigators in the days after Ms Fraser’s death but was released without charge, pending further enquiries.
He was arrested on Thursday morning, less than two hours after homicide squad detectives revealed Mr Basham was an ongoing person of interest in the investigation.
Police also released CCTV footage of a man they believed to be Ms Fraser's killer walking towards and running away from her house on the day she was found dead.
After Mr Basham was charged, police again appealed for more CCTV and dashcam footage taken anywhere on the island that day, but particularly between Ms Fraser's home in Seagrove Way, Cowes and San Remo.
They also asked for information from anyone who spotted a man wearing a distinctive black hoodie with a dark blue band across the midriff and arms or a man on a motorcycle between 7am and 1pm.
With Simone Fox Koob
More to come