Posted
A Victorian man charged with the cold case murder of an Adelaide woman has been refused home detention bail after the prosecution revealed never-before-released details of the case against him.
- Mother-of-two Suzanne Poll was repeatedly stabbed at her workplace in 1993
- Matthew Donald Tilley's DNA was found in different areas within the shop, a court heard
- His lawyer told the court he was not a flight risk, but he was refused bail
Matthew Donald Tilley, 46, was extradited to Adelaide from Ballarat last week and charged with the 1993 murder of Suzanne Poll.
The mother-of-two was found dead in the back office of a stationery store at Salisbury in Adelaide's northern suburbs.
Mr Tilley's application for bail was heard in the Adelaide Magistrates Court, where prosecutor Carmen Matteo "strongly opposed" the application, citing the "gravity" of the alleged offending.
Ms Matteo told the court Ms Poll had been "a soft target" and was stabbed more than 40 times with a large knife "from the back that exited her chest".
She said it was clear Ms Poll had tried to escape the attack because she "had retreated … into the office area which wasn't accessible to the public".
The prosecution also alleged Mr Tilley's DNA was found in multiple areas of the store, including on a floor, doorhandle and filing cabinet, as well as "an item in Ms Poll's handbag that was stored in the office".
Ms Matteo also told the court the DNA found was "greater than 100 billion" times more likely to belong to him than another person.
She added that money was stolen from the shop and from Ms Poll.
Mr Tilley's defence lawyer Craig Caldicott told the court the accused's brother Charles had offered to house him at his Adelaide home if he was granted home detention bail and that he and other family members had offered between $10,000 and $20,000 to secure his bail.
"He's not a flight risk," Mr Caldicott said.
"It's unlikely that he would flee."
Magistrate Smart challenged Mr Caldicott and told him it was "not unheard of".
Mr Caldicott also told the court the prosecution had failed to provide him with a copy of a DNA report used to charge Mr Tilley.
Magistrate Smart ordered the prosecution hand over any report relating to DNA to the defence.
"The sooner it's handed over, the sooner the matter can be dealt with properly," he said, before refusing Mr Tilley's application for bail.
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, courts-and-trials, murder-and-manslaughter, crime, adelaide-5000, salisbury-5108, sa, ballarat-3350, vic, australia