Gold Coast businessman John Chardon has had his bid for a judge-only murder trial denied and will be tried by jury for the 2013 murder of his missing wife.

October 16, 2018

A Gold Coast businessman accused of shooting his missing wife and dumping her body at sea has been told he can get a fair jury trial despite publicity surrounding the alleged murder.

John Chardon, 71, is accused of murdering his Indonesian wife Novy, 34, on February 6, 2013 to deprive her of their children and their marriage breakup property settlement.

Chardon made a bid to have his trial next year by judge alone, arguing that extensive pre-trial publicity along with the notoriety of prominent prosecution witness Peter Foster and expert telephone evidence from the night of the alleged murder would hamper a fair trial before a jury.

But in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Tuesday, Justice David Boddice said there were no circumstances that would prevent Chardon from getting a fair jury trial despite the publicity.

Justice Boddice said a properly instructed and directed jury could deal with a large amount of publicity.

“Extensive pre-trial publicity is often a feature in criminal proceedings, for this reason, jurors are specifically directed to determine a defendant’s guilt by reference to the evidence alone,” he said.

The judge said that convicted conman Foster, who had alleged a shared cell confession by Chardon, could be briefed to ensure the interests of justice were served.

“It will be incumbent upon the prosecutor to control Foster to ensure (any) inadmissible and highly prejudice evidence was not led before the jury,” he said.