Victim ‘beaten’
THE man accused of murdering his wife on Mindil Beach last month allegedly beat her a number of times, stripped her clothes off and dragged her into the ocean before she was found unresponsive on the beach, according to court documents.
Garsek Nawirridj, 38, was arrested and charged with the murder of the 40-year-old woman on January 3.
THE man accused of murdering his wife on Mindil Beach last month allegedly beat her a number of times, stripped her clothes off and dragged her into the ocean before she was found unresponsive on the beach, according to court documents.
Garsek Nawirridj, 38, was arrested and charged with the murder of the 40-year-old woman on January 3.
According to the statement of alleged facts tendered in court and obtained by the Sun
day Territorian, Nawirridj was captured on CCTV footage dragging the victim – who he was married to in the Aboriginal way – along Smith St in Darwin CBD on the evening of December 23, 2019.
The victim was with another woman who tried to stop him from pulling her away before Nawirridj allegedly punched both women a number of times in the ribs.
Police allege about 7pm, Nawirridj then dragged the victim into a bush at the Mindil Beach Casino Resort carpark and assaulted her, causing her to scream and moan. Her blood was allegedly splattered across nearby trees.
Nawirridj then allegedly dragged her to a camping spot among the trees on Mindil Beach where he assaulted her again.
Police allege he then removed her clothing and dragged the victim into the water before pulling her out and dumping her on the beach when he realised she had become unresponsive.
Emergency services were called to the scene and found the victim to be unconscious and not breathing about 9.45pm. St John paramedics managed to regain a pulse and transported her to Royal Darwin Hospital where she later died. An autopsy conducted the next day ruled her cause of death as “blunt force head injury caused by multiple strikes”.
The documents also reveal Nawirridj was found early the next morning by police after allegedly having set fire to a car on a Fannie Bay street, and was later alleged to have threatened to set fire to a fuel pump at a nearby petrol station. He also faces charges of arson as a result. “I had an argument with my missus and I burnt this car,” he allegedly told police at the scene.
Nawirridj appeared in Darwin Local Court on January 6 where he applied for and was refused bail.
The case will return to court on March 2.