A man accused of causing the deaths of two women – one being his wife – in a Mandurah Estuary boat crash nearly two years ago has had all charges against him dropped a week before he was due to go on trial.
John Phillip Burdon, 47, was not navigating the boat that killed Debbie Burdon, 54 and her best friend Kylie Bazzo, 52, around 10pm on January 21 last year, state prosecutors told the Supreme Court of WA on Thursday.
John Burdon has had his charges dropped.
The women were both flung from the vessel, owned by Burdon, after it struck a red channel marker late one evening in January 2023.
Burdon was later charged with two counts of manslaughter over the deaths.
He has maintained his innocence throughout the ordeal and on Thursday prosecutors told the court that during a status conference ahead of his scheduled trial, “information was provided by a witness” that “cast doubt over whether he was driving the boat”.
“The state concluded there would be no reasonable chance of a conviction,” the prosecutor said.
Debbie Burdon and Kylie Bazzo were best friends.
Burdon did not attend the hearing in person, his lawyer telling the court he was still in a “state of grief”.
Burdon also received serious injuries in the crash and was taken to hospital while a fourth man was uninjured.
Bazzo was the mother of young West Coast Eagles recruit Rhett Bazzo, and widow of former WAFL great, Steve Bazzo.