Bail denied in murder case after drowning evidence
A man accused of killing his ex-partner and dumping her body in a river has been refused bail, claiming he may have drowned.
Crystal Beale’s body was found in the Brisbane River by a paddler hours after a family dinner in February 2025.
Former partner Jesse Wahlen Beale was charged seven months later with domestic violence-related murder and tampering with a corpse.
Judge Patrick McCafferty announced his decision in the Supreme Court in Brisbane on Thursday to refuse Beale’s second attempt at bail since he was taken into custody in September 2025.
In Wednesday’s bail application, defense barrister Saul Holt KC presented new evidence from a forensic pathologist who said strangulation “cannot be excluded” as the cause of Ms Beale’s death.
He said the new evidence “dramatically changes the picture” for the prosecution.
“When the cause of death is unclear in a murder case, that poses a huge problem for the Crown,” Mr Holt said.
Judge McCafferty found that the pathologist’s opinion did not weaken the prosecution’s case sufficiently to grant bail.
“I do not accept that (the pathologist’s) report was decisive in the sense that it tipped the balance in favor of bail,” he said.
“In any event, I am not satisfied that there has been a material change in circumstances and my application is therefore refused.”
Crown prosecutor Dejana Kovac opposed the application, saying the ultimate cause of Ms Beale’s death did not need to be proven for her former partner to be convicted of the charges.
Mother-of-two Ms Beale, 49, was last seen alive at 9.30pm on February 21, 2025, arguing with the defendant at a restaurant and bottle shop in Brisbane’s southern suburbs.
The defendant first applied for bail in October 2025 after the court heard his former partner call him a “rapist” during an argument.
Ms Beale said she found photos on the defendant’s phone of him allegedly sexually assaulting her while she was unconscious, the court heard.
The defense had argued that conflicting evidence alleging Ms Beale had been strangled, combined with her previous self-harm, substance use and suicide threats, significantly weakened claims that she was killed by someone else.
The prosecution’s pathology report stated that there was not enough algae on Ms Beale’s body to conclude that she had entered the water while she was still alive.
Ms Kovac said the evidence showing Ms Beale suffered neck injuries consistent with strangulation was sufficient to prove her former partner’s intent to kill.
He also noted earlier evidence that the defendant had searched the Bureau of Meteorology website for tide times and the location of security cameras on the night he disappeared.
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