Jury discharged in stabbing murder trial
A jury has been discharged in the trial of a woman and her former partner accused of murdering her ex-husband in his Brisbane home.
Emily Jane Tracey, 38, and Paul Mathew Moore, 37, pleaded not guilty at the start of the Brisbane Supreme Court trial last week to murdering James Switez-Glowacz.
But Justice Martin Burns discharged the jury on Thursday morning saying a “significant body of evidence” had emerged the night before.
“This body of evidence is so significant that I’m persuaded, and each of the three barristers who sits at the bar table are agreed, the trial cannot go on,” he said.
“I could not be assured of a fair trial for both accused with such a body of evidence being produced so late.”
The information was uncovered in response to inquiries about other evidence, Justice Burns told the jury.
It is the second time the pair have faced trial over the charges, with another jury having been discharged in February.
Switez-Glowacz’s body was found by his father – who hadn’t heard from his son for days – next to a futon on the ground floor of the unlocked unit in the Brisbane suburb of Wynnum West on February 8, 2018.
The 36-year-old died from haemorrhaging, having being stabbed eight times in his head and body.
An autopsy found he died days before his body was found.
He and Tracey had been in an “on-again-off-again relationship” after meeting when she was 16 years old, the trial was told.
The Russell Island woman has a daughter with Switez-Glowacz, and also twins with Moore.
The case has been set down for review on August 20.