Man charged with murder of mum after alleged abduction
The Magistrate’s Court in Brisbane heard on Tuesday that the police laid one additional charge against Slade Murdok (30) for the murder of his 61-year-old mother Wendy Sleeman.
Murdok was arrested on Wednesday last week after Ms Sleeman went missing from her Gold Coast home and was later found dead in Brisbane.
He appeared in court on Thursday last week and was refused bail on a string of domestic violence-related charges, including kidnapping, assault, stalking and attempted arson.
The police prosecutor told magistrate Belinda Merrin on Tuesday that Murdok did not have to appear in person or via video link for the murder charge to be heard.
Murdok’s lawyer, Rodney Keyte, told the court his client had been charged over alleged offenses committed on the Gold Coast.
Mr Keyte said he had an “unusual request” to pass on to the magistrate.
“He has an injury to his hand … he is asking for an order that fingerprints not be taken until it has healed,” Mr Keyte said.
Ms Merrin said she did not understand the request and did not know what power would be used to grant it if she could.
Murdock was ordered to appear again at Southport Magistrates’ Court on February 14, where he is also due for a further hearing on the domestic violence-related charges relating to Ms Sleeman’s alleged abduction.
Police began searching for Ms Sleeman on Tuesday last week, shortly after she contacted police to report a disturbance at her Elanora home.
A police statement claimed that when officers arrived at Ms Sleeman’s home they found blood at the property and a doormat on fire which was quickly extinguished, but no one was located.
The search ended two days later when her body was recovered from a car parked in a garage at Windsor, in Brisbane’s inner north.
The Brisbane Magistrates Court held a brief hearing on separate charges brought against Murdok last year.
Murdok was out on bail at the time of Ms Sleeman’s alleged murder last week.
He was charged with aggravated assault of a police officer, physically obstructing a police officer and breaching a police order to provide his full name and address on April 14 at a home in Ferny Grove in Brisbane’s outer north-west.
The 2022 case was adjourned until May 19 in the Mental Health Court.
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