Vic: Blind, disabled man charged with murder of wife
By Nick Lenaghan
MELBOURNE, April 26 AAP - A blind and disabled Melbourne man has been charged withthe murder of his de facto wife who went missing in January.
Fifty-two-year-old Terrance Douglass appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court todayafter detectives found the body of 34-year-old Jaihon "Jenny" Hu buried in the backyardof the couple's suburban Glenhuntly unit on April 24.
Detective Sergeant Shane Brundell told the court "a large amount of blood" was alsolocated inside the unit during the search two days ago.
Ms Hu was last seen at the unit on January 25 and there was evidence of a phone callbetween the pair that day before Douglass returned to the unit in the evening, Det SgtBrundell said.
Douglass was helped into the dock by security guards and sat on a wheeled walking frame.
His lawyer Elizabeth Nicholls told the court Douglass was legally blind with less than10 per cent vision and needed a wheelchair due to two strokes.
Magistrate Lisa Hannan granted police an application to take a cheek swab of DNA fromDouglass after hearing material believed to be from him had been found under Ms Hu's fingernailsduring a post-mortem.
In February police appealed for public help in finding Ms Hu, a Chinese-born computerengineer who had become an Australian citizen.
After Ms Hu had left her city office on January 25 she had been expected to stay withfriends in Preston before returning to China to see her sick father, police said at thetime.
Douglass has been charged with her murder on or about January 25.
He was remanded in custody to reappear in the same court on August 27.
AAP nl/szp/gfr/cd/sb
KEYWORD: DOUGLASS
No comments:
Post a Comment