The shocking first details about allegedly-murdered Ballarat mother Kobie Parfitt's final hours have been revealed in a Supreme Court bail application.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
However, mystery still surrounds her exact cause of death.
Jacob Ford, 35, appeared virtually at the Supreme Court to apply for bail - charged with murder, his defence lawyer said the prosecution's case was "tenuous, if not non-existent".
Ms Parfitt was last seen alive at her home in Ballarat on April 28 last year, and her remains were found down a mineshaft in Snake Valley in December.
Ford is one of four people charged over the death, and has been in custody since October - his co-accused include Shannon Jeffrey, Brendon Prestage, and Renee Reynolds.
The court was told Ford was one of several co-accused who attended Parfitt's home on the day of her disappearance.
Witnesses, including neighbours, said Ms Parfitt appeared "terrified" in company of the co-accused on April 28.
It's alleged Ms Parfitt had a dispute with Jeffrey, who had been released from custody about 10 days earlier.
"The prosecution's case for (Ford) is put on the basis co-accused Shannon Jeffrey had a significant grievance with the deceased, and murder was committed as a result of that grievance," prosecutor Catherine Parkes told the court.
"It's alleged (Ford) and (co-accused) Prestage and Reynolds assisted Jeffrey in carrying out the murder and disposing of the deceased's body.
"In terms of the unlawful act that occurred, we don't know, it was an assault of some description - a statement has been provided by a pathologist, the cause of death is unknown.
"The deceased was killed at her address, then taken to the mineshaft in fairly dense bushland and disposed of - as to the mechanism by which she died, we can't establish that."
Ms Parkes said the prosecution case relied on two witnesses - one a friend of Ford's, who had driven him around with Jeffrey, and Ms Parfitt's neighbour, who said Ms Parfitt had approached her on April 28, telling her to phone police.
"(The witness) outlined a conversation that she had with Jeffrey and (Ford), (Ford) said he was collecting the deceased's property because she had sold off Jeffrey's property while Jeffrey was in jail," Ms Parkes said.
"He also told (the witness) that (Ms Parfitt) "screwed over a lot of people", this is further evidence (Ford) was assisting Jeffrey with her grievances.
"The prosecution's case is that (Ford) demonstrates a willingness on his behalf to assist Jeffrey with her grievance - for want of a better phrase, do her dirty work for her, he's front and centre in relation to Jeffrey's grievances with the deceased."
A police interview conducted while Ford was in custody was also mentioned, where Ford said he did not know the co-accused Reynolds or Prestage, and had not been to Ms Parfitt's home before.
"It's alleged in the interview he told a number of lies," Ms Parkes said.
"The timing of the interview is significant - it's prior to the deceased's body being found, and whilst police were trying to determine her whereabouts."
However, defence lawyer Chris Pearson said that evidence should not be admissible in a trial, labelling it a "conversation" with police instead of a formal interview.
He attacked the prosecution case as "being sewn from shreds of information".
"The centrepiece of this application is the submission made that the prosecution's case is an entirely tenuous proposition," he said.
"What is said to be the high point of the (Ford)'s role in the offending is set out (in) the police summary, it's said that he was present (at Ms Parfitt's address) on the morning of April 28, 2020, that he walked over to the neighbour's home when Reynolds and the deceased arrived, that he ultimately returned to the house when the deceased returned to the house - it's said in prosecution summary, the allegation is he was present when Jeffrey killed the deceased, the defence position is there's not one skerrick of evidence that's the case.
"When one has regard to the prosecution's outline, that (Ford) assisted in some unspecified way in wrapping the body and moving it to the Snake Valley mineshaft where the body was ultimately found, again, not one skerrick of evidence that's what he did.
"To the extent there is a body of evidence the deceased was killed sometime on April 28, there is no evidence whatsoever he was present when she was killed, no one said he was present, no one saw him, no one saw him participate in the killing of the deceased, no admissions were made by anybody regarding that."
It was submitted that if bailed Ford could live with one of his sisters in Bacchus Marsh, while another sister offered a $15,000 surety - both appeared in court, with one stating she "would not hesitate" to contact police if any bail conditions were breached.
"He has a substantial tie to the jurisdiction, a high level of support within the community, he has a job available to him, accommodation available to him with good responsible members of the community, and he has availability of $15,000 surety," Mr Pearson said.
IN THE NEWS
Justice Lesley Taylor withheld her decision.
"I have no doubt it was an unlawful killing, it's a question of who was responsible," she said.
"I will reserve my position, parties will be notified of the date and time of my decision."
The murder case will continue on November 23 at a contested committal hearing at the Ballarat Magistrates' Court.
Have you signed up to The Courier's variety of news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.