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A man accused of killing his ex-wife and dumping her body in the Brisbane River allegedly kept images on his phone of her being sexually assaulted while unconscious, a court has heard.
Crystal Beale, 49, confronted Jesse Beale about the photos in the hours before her death, the Supreme Court in Brisbane heard on Wednesday. The next day, her body was pulled from the river near the Brisbane Corso in Yeronga.
Mr Beale allegedly searched the Bureau of Meteorology for tide times that night. The following day, he allegedly searched for whether a VPN hides search histories, and “CCTV cameras near me”.
Jesse Beale was arrested and charged over the alleged murder of his former wife Crystal Beale.Credit: Facebook
The mother of two was last seen alive in West End, after she went out to dinner in Sunnybank with her family, police said at the time. Afterwards, she was said to have been dropped off by Mr Beale on Ryan Street in West End about 9.30pm.
Police allege she was murdered that evening around Ryan Street, and her body then taken to the river near Orleigh Park in West End.
Mr Beale was arrested in Maudsland, in the northern Gold Coast, last month and charged with murder and misconduct with a corpse.
Crystal Beale’s daughter Charlie-Rose Wagner said earlier this year that her mother was kind and loving, and the most beautiful woman she had known.
On Wednesday, Mr Beale’s barrister Greg McGuire applied for bail in the Supreme Court, which was refused by the prosecution.
Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Caroline Marco told the court Ms Beale had been aggrieved by photos that depicted her in an unconscious state and being sexually assaulted and exploited.
“The police themselves have recovered those images from the deceased’s phone and there is evidence from other witnesses who say they saw those images and say the deceased spoke to them about those images and the distress that they caused her,” Marco said.
“There is evidence ... that the deceased was agitated on the afternoon or evening of the offence and that she confronted [Mr Beale] about the images in the car while they were driving back from the restaurant at West End.
“There is evidence she was calling him a rapist and saying that she would ruin his life and that he was going to go to jail.
“She didn’t want to be in his company. She had tried to arrange a lift from the restaurant but was unable to do so through a friend.”
Marco said it was accepted Mr Beale was the last known person to see Ms Beale alive. The prosecution relied on CCTV footage, which Marco said was found after police analysed movements of Mr Beale’s car in the area, including where he told officers he had been searching for Ms Beale, and to his unit on Carlow Street.
“There’s a period of time in which it’s alleged that Mr Beale parked his car ... near Montague Street and then set off by foot, and where he is seen holding an item that’s when he’s returning by foot back to his unit [on Carlow Street],” she said.
Marco said the footage compiled from various locations showed the movements of Mr Beale’s car stopping for 11 minutes on Ryan Street, near the corner of Carlow Street.
“Over that time, the footage doesn’t show the deceased or [Mr Beale] leaving the vehicle, where you would have expected to be able to see that if the account provided by [Mr Beale] was true,” she said.
Marco said after the vehicle was parked, it was then seen to travel to the end of Carlow Street, a dead-end street that joins the river, before reversing and driving to Hill End Terrace. There, Marco said Mr Beale parked the vehicle, leaving it for five minutes, and then drove back to Carlow Street.
Marco said that was the same location Ms Beale’s phone was found.
The accuser killer’s lawyer, McGuire, said his client recalled Ms Beale being angry at the Sunnybank restaurant about her meal, and that Mr Beale would not swap with her.
Mr Beale said he left the restaurant, McGuire said, and tried multiple times to get Ms Beale to leave, but she had refused, telling Mr Beale to get lost. At one point when he went back inside to Ms Beale, she was angry and vicious, Mr Beale claimed, and told him to get away through gritted teeth.
The court heard Ms Beale had been an alcoholic, and had used various drugs, including cocaine, meth and GHB, and had lost weight. McGuire told the court Ms Beale had threatened suicide multiple times.
On the night of Ms Beale’s death, Mr Beale said he drove home from the restaurant, when Ms Beale ordered him to stop the car. She got out, and he later went looking for her.
McGuire said his client said he never saw Ms Beale again.
Ms Beale had sustained injuries to her neck, and she was found to have alcohol and drugs in her system. Reading from an autopsy report, McGuire said drugs and alcohol could not be ruled out as her cause of death.
“He was the last person to see her alive and then her body was discovered at Yeronga the next morning. There were signs of strangulation. It’s unclear about the cause of her death,” he said.
He said there were inconsistencies with the prosecution’s case, including allegations Mr Beale could be seen walking in the vicinity, but was wearing different clothes. The prosecution later said Mr Beale had been home earlier in the night and there was “every possibility he had changed his pants”.
McGuire said: “As I say, I’m struggling to see how the case against him could be described as strong.”
McGuire referred to the prosecution’s case of Mr Beale’s “persistent attempt to dispose of her body”, saying he did not “know where that comes from”.
He submitted his client could be released on strict conditions.
Justice Lincoln Crowley is due to deliver his decision on Mr Beale’s bail this afternoon.
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