Aaron Bunch Journalist with Australian Associated Press | Collection of published work | + 61 484 008 119 | abunch@aap.com.au
Accused Qld murderer too busy to dump body
A man accused of murdering a missing teenage call girl would not have had time to dump her body, a Brisbane court has been told.
February 26, 2020
A Brisbane man accused of murdering a missing teenage call girl after she demanded $500 for sex would not have had time to dump her body, a court has been told.
Tiffany Anna Taylor, 16, disappeared on July 12, 2015, after allegedly meeting Rodney Wayne Williams, 65, for a paid sexual liaison via the Oasis website.
Her body has never been found.
Williams pleaded not guilty in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Tuesday to murdering Tiffany at Waterford West, south of Brisbane after picking the teenager up.
Prosecutor Philip McCarthy QC says Williams then drove his Hyundai sedan before stopping at the Larapinta industrial park for about 20 minutes.
“Something happens before it returns to the cul-de-sac that is part of the industrial area,” he said during his opening address to the jury.
Mr McCarthy said Williams then drove to the Esk-Ferndale region, where police have searched dams and bushland for Tiffany’s body without success.
But defence lawyer Eoin Mac Giolla Ri warned the jury not to “be taken in by the heroics and technical wizardry of the detectives”.
He said they had collected a lot of evidence about Williams’ movements from CCTV and mobile phone data.
But what it actually showed was his client would not have had the time to commit the crime he is accused of.
“There was simply no opportunity to dispose of the body,” he said.
The trial continues on Wednesday.