The former partner of a woman whose body was found near Toowoomba at the weekend has appeared in court for the first time after being charged with her murder.
Dharminder Singh covered his face and appeared to sob as he appeared in Toowoomba magistrates court via video link, charged with the murder of 30-year-old Jana Armstrong.
Armstrong, the mother of a four-month-old baby, went missing on 7 July. Her car was found a day later near her home in the Toowoomba suburb of Newtown.
Singh, a 48-year-old taxi driver, has been charged with the support worker’s murder (domestic violence offence), arson and breach of a bail condition. His lawyer indicated outside court that Singh intends to plead not guilty.
On Saturday Armstrong’s body was found by a group of pig hunters off the New England Highway on a winding rural road near Ravensbourne national park.
Police allege that that the day after Armstrong went missing, Singh wilfully and unlawfully set fire to a motor vehicle.
More than a dozen members of Armstrong’s family were present in the court, including her baby, who was being cradled in a carrier by Armstrong’s sister, Faith Isaacs.
Isaacs said her nephew was the reason she was getting out of bed in the morning.
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“He’s doing pretty good,” she told reporters. “As good as he can be.”
Footage released by police on the day Armstrong went missing showed her cradling her son while wearing a green-and-white striped Country Road shirt, jeans and thongs.
There has been an outpouring of grief and support in the Queensland city, with donations being collected by the charity Tony’s Community Kitchen and flowers being left outside Armstrong’s home.
Singh’s lawyer, Ramli Salehkon from Toowoomba Multicultural Legal Service, spoke outside court, saying: “My client has cooperated with police in the course of the investigations into this matter. My client asserts his innocence.”
The magistrate, Lisa O’Neil, asked for a brief of evidence on 14 September and the matter will be mentioned again 1 October.
