‘Urgent’ trench dug after woman went missing, jury told
A man accused of murdering his American girlfriend organized urgent ditch digging a day after her disappearance, a court heard.
Mark Sheridan Waden allegedly murdered Priscilla Brooten and disposed of her body before dumping her in a rubbish dump in Brisbane about a year later.
Waden is also accused of using the US woman’s mobile phone after her disappearance, posing as her in messages and giving the phone to a new girlfriend before it was seized by police.
The jury heard that Ms Brooten, an American national who was staying in Australia illegally, went missing from the home she shared with Waden in Brisbane’s northern suburbs on July 5, 2018.
Almost eight years later, Waden faced the Brisbane Supreme Court on Monday as his murder trial began.
Ms Brooten, 46, was not reported missing until December 2018.
His body was never found.
Waden told police and acquaintances that he had abandoned her and that he may have returned to the United States or been taken away by immigration officials.
Prosecutor Andrew Walklate told the jury on Monday there was a compelling circumstantial case linking Waden to Ms. Brooten’s murder.
He said that on the night of the alleged murder, Ms. Brooten confronted Waden over evidence of an affair she was having with a co-worker.
Waden is accused of killing Ms. Brooten during an argument on July 5, 2018.
Waden allegedly arranged for someone to dig a ditch at his home that day through a mobile marketplace the next morning, saying he couldn’t wait days or weeks.
The jury heard that nearly two weeks after Ms Brooten’s alleged murder, her phone was presented to Waden’s new partner after being reset to factory settings and a subsequent police examination confirmed the phone belonged to Ms Brooten.
Waden is accused of returning to his property on May 5 and May 7, 2019, digging up approximately 800kg of soil and dumping it in the Nudgee dump.
Mr Walklate suggested to the jury that Ms Brooten’s remains might have been dumped there along with the soil.
Defense attorney James Godbolt said the case against his client was based on conjecture, speculation and conjecture.
“How was he killed? The prosecution cannot say this,” he said.
“There is not a single piece of evidence that the excavated area was used as a cemetery.”
He said it was clear that Waden had told a number of lies, but that he had reasons for doing so, none of which implicated him in Miss Brooten’s disappearance.
Mr. Godbolt even suggested that Ms. Brooten might still be alive.
He said it was clear that Ms Brooten was unhappy and was in the country illegally after having managed to stay out of sight for many years.
“Maybe he managed to leave the country under another name, maybe he’s still living in plain sight in the country, maybe he committed suicide.”
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