Car where Ballarat woman Hannah McGuire’s remains found burned for six hours before it was discovered

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Warning: Distressing content

A smouldering tree log had been pushed up against the door of a burnt-out car where the body of Ballarat woman Hannah McGuire was found, a court has heard.

The car had been burning for six hours before it was discovered.

On the third day of the Supreme Court trial into the 23-year-old woman’s alleged murder, veteran County Fire Association volunteer Alwyn Parker told the hearing he did not realise at first there was a body inside the scorched remains of the Mitsubishi Triton ute when he arrived at the scene of a blaze in dense bushland in Scarsdale, 25 kilometres south-west of Ballarat on the morning of April 5.

Hannah McGuire, 23, was found dead in April 2024.

By the time he got there, the 72-year-old told the court the vehicle was “completely burnt out”.

Parker said he and others at the scene observed two large tree logs which were still alight with hot embers, and appeared to have been placed either side of the passenger and driver side doors.

“There was no fire as far as flames were concerned ... smouldering issues, but not flames,” Parker told the court.

Parker said all four doors of the car remained closed. The windows of the vehicle were shattered.

A court sketch of Lachlan Young, accused murderer of Hannah McGuire.

Lachlan Young, 23, has admitted he killed his former girlfriend McGuire on April 5, 2024, before driving her body to bushland in Scarsdale, 25 kilometres south-west of Ballarat, and setting the ute on fire.

Young has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, but not guilty to murder, with his lawyer telling the court earlier this week her death was “an unplanned and spontaneous incident”.

As distressing evidence about the circumstances of where their daughter’s body was found was aired, and graphic photos of the scene were shown to 14 jurors, her parents Debbie and Glenn McGuire sat outside the courtroom.

The court heard on Wednesday a man walking his dog on the morning of April 5 found the car and called triple zero.

Victoria Police forensic officer Laura Noonan later told the court damage from the blaze appeared to be more severe at the front of the car. Prosecutors allege Young took a yellow blowtorch and set fire to the front of the car.

Noonan told the court it was her view the car was burning for about six hours before it was discovered.

Noonan told the court it appeared that McGuire had been lying on her left side, facing the rear of the car.

Hannah McGuire’s parents, Debbie and Glenn McGuire, arrive at the Supreme Court of Victoria in Ballarat.

She said her analysis indicated McGuire’s body had been in that position when the fire was ignited and remained in that position for the duration of the blaze.

The court heard earlier this week that the prosecution alleges that on April 4 McGuire went to meet Young at the Ballarat house they previously shared, arriving about 9.47pm in her orange Mitsubishi Triton and parking it at the rear of the house.

It is alleged she was killed with “murderous intent” sometime after 1.50am, before Young put her body in the back of her own car and drove to his colleague’s house.

Crown prosecutor Kristie Churchill previously told the jury McGuire and Young had been in a “controlling, problematic and turbulent” relationship before Young murdered her.

Churchill told the jury Young had also tried to cover up the murder by sending a series of text messages purporting to be McGuire to her mother in an attempt to make her death look like a suicide.

He is also accused of purporting to be McGuire when he transferred $2000 to her mother and $5000 to himself from her bank account hours after her death.

It is also alleged he told a workmate he had planned to drug McGuire and crash a car with her unconscious behind the wheel, to scare her following the breakdown of their relationship.

“He wanted to scare Hannah so she didn’t take his house or his things,” Churchill said Young had told his workmate during a hearing on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Detective Senior Constable James Allen told the court police had been able to track the movements of McGuire, Young, and a second man, who was a colleague of the accused allegedly involved in the disposal of McGuire’s body on the night she died.

The jury was also shown images of the fire-damaged ute where McGuire’s remains were found.

The jurors then left the court to visit the site where her remains were discovered and the house she once shared with Young, where the prosecution allege she was killed.

The trial continues.

If you or anyone you know needs support, you can contact the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732), Lifeline 131 114, or Beyond Blue 1300 224 636.