SHOT DEAD & BURNED
COURT TOLD OF MADDISON’S LAST MOMENTS
MURDER victim Maddison Parrott was shot dead after organising to buy drugs from her alleged killer, a court has heard.
The 29-year-old’s charred remains were found in a burnt-out tent at the Geelong Showgrounds early on December 4 last year.
It is alleged that Nicholas James Cross, 31, shot the Waurn Ponds woman in the head at the showgrounds a day before her body was discovered.
A series of explosive allegations were aired in Geelong yesterday as a woman fronted court in connection with Ms Parrott’s death.
Bell Park woman Tracy Anne Menzies, who is accused of trying to help Mr Cross escape arrest, appeared in Geelong Magistrates’ Court to apply for bail.
The 32-year-old was arrested on December 6 in Sydney’s west along with Mr Cross and Colac man Todd Sell, who is also charged with being an accomplice to murder after the fact.
Among a string of allegations aired in court yesterday were claims that: MS Parrott was shot after organising to buy ice off Mr Cross on behalf of her boyfriend; AFTER witnessing the murder, Ms Menzies suggested burning the glamping-style tent where it happened to make the death seem like a suicide; POLICE tried intercepting Mr Cross and Ms Menzies in a stolen car on Ryrie St several hours before the killing; MS Menzies was seen acting “jovial and laughing” with Mr Cross and Mr Sell in footage captured one day after the alleged murder; and AUTHORITIES were forced to intervene after Mr Cross tried to get one of his associates on Ms Menzies’ prison visitor list.
Melbourne crime investiga- tion unit detective Thomas Asciak told the court police believed Ms Parrott — also known as Maddison Pante — was shot with a cut-down rifle about 8.45am on December 3.
Sen-Constable Asciak said Ms Parrott knew Mr Cross through her boyfriend, Brodi Costello, and that she had been in contact with her alleged killer several times on the morning of her death.
The court heard that about an hour before she was shot in the head, Ms Parrott called Mr Cross to organise a drug deal for her partner, with the pair talking on the phone for more than eight minutes.
It is alleged that Mr Cross and Ms Menzies — believed to be in a relationship together — arrived at the showgrounds in Breakwater a short time later.
Sen-Constable Asciak said Mr Costello was inside the tent and on the phone to Centrelink about 8.45am when an argument broke out between Mr Cross and Ms Parrott, before the former Belmont High School student was allegedly shot in the head. Her body was found in the burnt-out tent about 1.35am the following day.
Police claim Mr Cross, Ms Menzies and Mr Sell later conspired to flee to Brisbane, but were arrested at a home in NSW.
The court was told that a cut-down rifle — believed to be the murder weapon — was found at the home in a bag containing property of both Mr Cross and Ms Menzies.
Sen-Constable Asciak strongly opposed Ms Menzies’ bid for bail, citing fears for public safety and the potential for her to interfere with witnesses.
Magistrate Ann McGarvie deferred a decision on Ms Menzies’ application until March 25, with further inquiries to be made about the proposed bail address in Norlane.
Mr Cross and Mr Sell remain in custody.