NSW: Burrell had ample motive to kill widow, court told

AAP General News (Australia)
08-07-2007
NSW: Burrell had ample motive to kill widow, court told

SYDNEY, Aug 7 AAP - Sydney man Bruce Burrell had ample motive to kill a wealthy widow
whose body has never been found, a NSW Supreme Court jury has been told.

Continuing his opening address today, Crown Prosecutor Mark Tedeschi, QC, said Burrell
also had the opportunity to dispose of the woman's body in the NSW Southern Highlands
where he co-owned a remote property.

On the day Dorothy Davis disappeared in Sydney, Burrell had unexpectedly left the capital
and gone to the Southern Highlands area for some hours, Mr Tedeschi said.

Police later carried out an exhaustive search of the property, which was dotted with
mine-ventilation shafts, but no trace was found of Mrs Davis.

Burrell, 54, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mrs Davis, a 74-year-old grandmother,
on or about May 30, 1995, at an unknown place in NSW.

At the time, Burrell and his wife lived very close to Mrs Davis at Lurline Bay in Sydney's
eastern suburbs.

Mr Tedeschi has told the jury Mrs Davis had been pressuring Burrell to repay a $100,000
loan when she disappeared.

"He had ample motive to kill her," he said.

The trial is continuing.

AAP mss/sg/wjf/maur/de

KEYWORD: BURRELL

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