Bayley admitted to raping and strangling Jill Meagher
LifeNews

Words: Mark Russell

Adrian Bayley grabbed Jill Meagher just eight minutes after she had left a bar to walk home, a court has heard today.

Mr Bayley dragged Ms Meagher into a nearby laneway and raped and strangled her, the Melbourne Magistrates Court was told.

And Mr Bayley admitted to killing the ABC staffer before burying her body on a roadside, the court heard.

Prosecutor Gavin Silbert, SC, said Ms Meagher had left Bar Etiquette in Sydney Road, Brunswick, at 1.30am on Saturday, September 22, last year to walk the short distance to her home.

Mr Silbert said Mr Bayley accosted Ms Meagher, 29, at 1.38am and dragged her into a laneway in Hope Street and raped and strangled her.

The prosecutor said Mr Bayley left Ms Meagher's body in the laneway and went back to his home in Coburg.

Mr Bayley allegedly returned to the laneway at 4.22am in his white Holden Astra after picking up a shovel.

Mr Silbert said Mr Bayley put Ms Meagher's body in the boot of his car and drove off four minutes later.

Mr Bayley drove to Gisborne South and buried Ms Meagher's body by the side of a road, the prosecutor said.

Mr Silbert said Mr Bayley later took part in a lengthy interview with homicide detectives from 3.58pm on September 27.

The interview ended at 1.54am the next day after Mr Bayley allegedly made admissions to raping and strangling Ms Meagher.

The prosecutor said Mr Bayley later directed homicide detectives to where Ms Meagher had been buried.

Mr Bayley was initially charged with one count of murder and one count of rape.

Mr Silbert said Mr Bayley was later charged on January 14 with two further counts of rape.

Mr Bayley, 41, who had been brought into the secure courtroom at 9.43am flanked by three security guards, bowed his head as Mr Silbert read out a brief prosecution summary of the allegations against him.

Ms Meagher's husband, Tom, her parents, George and Edith McKeon, and brother, Michael, were in court for the first day of the contested committal hearing before deputy chief magistrate Felicity Broughton.

Twelve seats were reserved in the courtroom for Ms Meagher's family as well as homicide detectives and other supporters.

Mr Bayley's legal aid defence barrister Helen Spowart had unsuccessfully argued last week that the hearing should be delayed to give independent experts time to analyse Mr Bayley’s DNA sample and damaged clothing relevant to the case.

In opposing the application to have the hearing delayed, Mr Silbert said only six witnesses were to be called at the hearing and that both police forensic scientists who had analysed Mr Bayley’s DNA sample and the clothing would be available to be cross-examined if required tomorrow.

Zixue (Sophia) Qiu, whose bedroom window overlooked the laneway in Hope Street, said she heard a woman's voice say ‘‘get out of there’’ a number of times just after 1.40am on September 22 last year.

Ms Qiu said she did not hear any other voices or any screaming or yelling.

Asked by Ms Spoward why she thought the woman was drunk, Ms Qiu said: ''From the sound. The voice is not clear. It is like a prolonged kind of voice.''

Ms Qiu said she talked to her husband, Xuxiang He, about what they had heard and they joked about how she might have been having sex.

The hearing continues.