A neighbour who found the body of a Melbourne nurse brutally killed in her home told police about a letter his wife allegedly received from the slain woman’s lover apologising for the shocking find, a court has been told.
Ina-Doris Warrick was stabbed to death at her Ringwood North home in March 1986.
Her former colleague Colin Earl Graham is standing trial in Victoria’s Supreme Court charged with the 25-year-old woman’s murder after more than three decades. He has pleaded not guilty.
Mr Graham went out for dinner with Ms Warrick on March 21 and it’s alleged he stabbed her twice in the back after he dropped her home.
The 66-year-old denied he had anything to do with her death, but prosecutors said witnesses came forward who said the former hospital orderly confessed to the crime.
The young widow was scheduled to work a shift at the Warringal Hospital at Heidelberg on the night she wasxjmtzyw killed but never showed up. Her body wasn’t discovered for several days.
Prosecutor Robyn Harper told the court on Monday that Ms Warrick’s married lover – Dr Greg Stewart – discovered her body on March 23 but didn’t report it to police.
The anaesthetist was questioned on March 26 but did not tell anyone about his gruesome discovery until two days after he initially spoke with police, Ms Harper told the court.
Instead next-door neighbour Elaine Tresise went to check on the nurse and uncovered her body on March 25. She and her husband Maxwell reported it to police.
In a statement from Maxwell Tresise made in 2018, he said about six to 12 months after the nurse’s death the couple allegedly received a letter from the doctor that his wife kept for 20 years.
The letter was carefully worded and was personal and sincere in its statement, Mr Tresise said in the statement aired in court.
“(The letter) was written with empathy and sincere apologies; apologised for the trauma caused to Sally for leaving her to discover Ina-Doris’s body; expressed how out of character it was for him to find her body and not report her death,” he said.
The man said his wife became “disturbed” by the letter’s presence and it caused her distress.
“We discussed options of what to do with the letter and both agreed to burn the letter,” he said.
Dr Stewart has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
The trial is continuing, with former crime scene officer Lionel Wayne Drake giving evidence on Tuesday about what he uncovered at the scene.
