Rex Martinich
A man has pleaded guilty to murder exactly seven years after body parts were found in a chest freezer buried in the victim’s backyard.
Bobby Andrew Weaver faced Brisbane Supreme Court on Wednesday for what was meant to be a pre-trial hearing.
The crown prosecutor instead asked Justice Rebecca Wilson to arraign Weaver on one count of murder.
AAP
Weaver replied “guilty” when asked how he would plead to the charge of murdering David Charles Thornton some time between January 24 and March 10, 2019, at the Ipswich suburb of Goodna, west of Brisbane.
Weaver declined to say anything further to Wilson.
Thornton, 58, a retired maths and science teacher, was last seen near his Goodna home on February 22 and was reported missing by his family on March 12, 2019.
Police began digging in his yard over a weekend in late March that year, then on April 1, they excavated a freezer containing Thornton’s remains.
Weaver, who was 24 at the time, was extradited to Queensland from NSW two days later following his arrest the previous day at a Pacific Highway rest stop at Tyagarah, just north of Byron Bay.
He was due to face a Supreme Court trial from July 27 this year, but on Wednesday, Wilson ordered that he continue to be remanded in custody, and scheduled a review on April 8 to confirm a date for sentencing.
Weaver’s barrister said she would seek a subpoena for her client’s medical records to assist with sentencing.
AAP
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