Arabic version: باركر ينفي القتل في محاكمة أمام محكمة أديلايد

According to ABC News, Johnathan Paul Parker has denied murdering Krystal Marshall at her Aldinga Beach home in October 2023, telling South Australia’s Supreme Court that Marshall’s ex-wife, Anastasia Marshall, was responsible for her death. Parker, 51, has pleaded not guilty to murdering the 38-year-old woman.

Parker pleaded guilty at the start of the trial to destroying Marshall’s remains by setting them on fire. He told the court he tried to cover up the crime because he was in an “intimate” relationship with Anastasia Marshall and was in love with her. The court had previously heard that Parker, Krystal Marshall and Anastasia Marshall were living in the same house.

Giving evidence in his defence, Parker said the three had argued on October 19, 2023. He said he left to “chill out” and, when he returned less than 10 minutes later, saw Krystal Marshall’s body face down on a bed. Parker said Anastasia Marshall looked at him in a way that suggested “something was obviously very wrong”. He said that when he asked her what she had done, she replied: “What does it matter? She’s dead.”

Parker said he used fire the following day while trying to disguise what had happened, and that his motivation was to protect Anastasia Marshall. Under cross-examination, prosecutor Jim Pearce KC challenged Parker’s account, noting that Parker said he did not know how Krystal Marshall had died. Parker rejected the suggestion that he had killed her. The court previously heard prison telephone intercepts in which Anastasia Marshall told Parker he had murdered her wife. Cross-examination is due to continue on Tuesday, with the trial expected to conclude next week.