A court has heard disturbing details about how an Adelaide woman allegedly murdered her ex-partner with insulin, before helping dispose of his body in a wheelie bin.
Key points:
- Geoffrey McLean’s partial remains were found in a wheelie bin in a vacant paddock in Salisbury South in August 2022
- Sheree Glastonbury is accused of murdering her former long-term partner
- The court heard a listening device captured Mark Murphy saying Mr McLean had been killed with insulin
WARNING: This story contains distressing allegations.
Sheree Glastonbury, 50, is accused of murdering her former long-term partner, Andrews Farm man Geoffrey McLean, in August 2022.
The 55-year-old was reported missing two months before his torso was found in a wheelie bin in a vacant paddock in Salisbury South.
Ms Glastonbury was also charged with aggravated assault, attempted murder and aggravated serious criminal trespass in relation to a number of alleged “orchestrated” attacks on Mr McLean before his death.
Ms Glastonbury’s partner Mark Murphy was also charged with Mr McLean’s murder — police allege his twin brother Peter James Murphy assisted with the transportation, storage and disposal of the remains.
In the Adelaide Magistrates Court today, prosecutor Mark Alessandrini alleged Ms Glastonbury killed Mr McLean at her home, before Mark Murphy was dropped off by a taxi near the address a short time later.
Mr Alessandrini said a listening device captured Mr Murphy giving a “detailed description” of his involvement in the offending and revealed that Mr McLean was already dead when he arrived at the house.
“He stated Sheree Glastonbury killed Geoffrey McLean using insulin,” Mr Alessandrini said.
Mr Alessandrini said Mr Murphy then detailed how he and Sheree Glastonbury dismembered Mr McLean’s body.
“They then stated that they transported Mr McLean’s remains to Mark Murphy’s home address in Brahma Lodge,” he said.
Mr Alessandrini said DNA testing confirmed Mr McLean’s blood was found in the carport and inside Ms Glastonbury’s car, as well as on a freezer inside Mr Murphy’s home.
He said the next day it was believed Ms Glastonbury and Mr Murphy stole a wheelie bin from a neighbour.
“They then transferred the dismembered body of Geoffrey McLean into the wheelie bin and left it in the backyard,” Mr Alessandrini said.
Court told of ‘hey murderer’ voice message
Mr Alessandrini said in the days following the alleged murder, the pair made multiple shopping trips, purchasing items such as a removalist trolley, garbage bags, plastic gloves, and five kilograms of laundry detergent.
He said a two-day booking for a budget rental truck was also placed under Peter Murphy’s name.
“On the 5th of August 2022, the budget rental truck travelled north from Adelaide to the vicinity of Cadell in the Riverland,” he said.
“It’s suspected that the purpose of this journey was to dispose of body parts of Geoffrey McLean and evidence related to the murder.”
Mr Alessandrini said voice messages later found on Ms Glastonbury’s mobile phone from Mr Murphy heard him saying, “Hey murderer, where’s the truck?”
He alleged that, following Ms Glastonbury’s arrest, she also had numerous conversations with a fellow prison inmate about how she “felt bad” for the member of the public who found the wheelie bin.
“She said that they would not have known at first because there were branches and twigs put on top of the torso in the bin,” Mr Alessandrini said.
He said during another conversation she laughed after seeing in the media that police had searched a rubbish dump for Mr McLean’s remains.
Ms Glastonbury’s lawyer made an application for home detention, claiming her client’s sleep apnoea had not been properly treated in custody, as she had not been given her CPAP machine for the past 10 days after being placed into isolation.
She said her client had been employed at Centrelink for 20 years and had won a number of awards during her career.
“Ultimately, the case against Ms Glastonbury is a circumstantial case,” the defence lawyer said.
“She has lost her partner and essentially has been experiencing large levels of grief and distress in custody.”
Chief Magistrate Mary-Louise Hribal adjourned the bail application and ordered a special needs report to be produced by correctional services.
Ms Glastonbury will return to court in February.
