Accused Airbnb killer was ‘fuelled by anger’, court hears
A man’s “bruised ego” and “inability to cope with rejection” led to the death of a woman at his rural home, a jury has been told.
Timothy Loosemore, 62, who pleaded not guilty to the murder of 60-year-old Maree Vermont, whose body was found in her burned-out home in August 2023, is on trial in the Supreme Court of Victoria.
Judge Andrew Tinney told the jury on Thursday that Mr Loosemore denied killing or attacking Ms Vermont and also denied setting the house on fire.
In his opening statement, Crown Prosecutor Mark Gibson KC said it was alleged Mr Loosemore was killed “in a fit of anger and frustration” after he rejected Ms Vermont’s “advances towards him”.
“This case is largely about four things: rejection, ego, perverted anger and the so-called Stone House,” Mr Gibson said.
He told the court it was alleged that Ms Vermont and Mr Loosemore first met on March 17, 2023, when Mr Loosemore, a UK national who was traveling around Australia on his bike, booked an overnight stay at Ms Vermont’s Goldie home through holiday rental site Airbnb.
Mr Gibson said Mr Loosemore returned to the property a week later and stayed for about a month, working on the property in exchange for food and groceries.
The court was told Ms Vermont and Mr Loosemore “had a very brief and intimate relationship with each other when they first met”, but Ms Vermont said she had made it clear to friends and family that she was not looking for a relationship.
Mr Gibson said Mr Loosemore left but continued to text Ms Vermont every day before returning to stay at the property again on May 24, 2023.
“You’ll hear that the accused man went to Cairns and Maree Vermont wanted some space, wanted independence and didn’t want a man in her life – which was her right,” he said.
“Miss Vermont has made it clear that she does not want a romantic relationship with him if he comes back and stays.”
The jury was shown a message Mrs Vermont sent to her son the week of her death, saying Mr Loosemore had not reacted well to her rejection.
The message read: “Can you please keep an eye on Tim today in a very nonchalant way. I have made it clear that I do not want an intimate relationship. He is taking this badly.”
Mr Gibson said that around 10pm on August 5, 2023, a neighbor called triple-0 after hearing an explosion and seeing Ms Vermont’s home engulfed in flames.
The prosecutor said Mr Loosemore told several neighbors and police that he had been sleeping upstairs and got up to put wood on the fire, but when he returned he found the house completely burnt to the ground.
Mr Gibson said at around 11.06pm an ambulance took Mr Loosemore to the Royal Melbourne Hospital and one of the paramedics observed “a strong smell of petrol in the ambulance”.
The jury was shown footage from the paramedic’s body camera showing scratches on Mr Loosemore’s right cheek, and Mr Loosemore said he did not know how he obtained the scratches.
Prosecutors allege that Mr. Loosemore either killed Ms. Vermont and set the house on fire to cover it up, or attacked and subdued Ms. Vermont before lighting the fire that killed her.
The jury was told the autopsy report could not determine the cause of death because it was “burnt”. [Ms Vermont’s] body”.
The prosecution’s opening statement will continue on Friday, followed by the defense’s opening statement.
