Officers in charge of the investigation into a "brutal" stabbing murder have been slammed for their slow progress on the case.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In Dubbo Local Court on Thursday, March 21, police prosecutors requested a 10-week adjournment in the matters of three people who are all accused of being involved in a murder in Dubbo's south in 2023.
Prosecutors requested the adjournment as they said it's "a complex matter with a large brief".
However, counsel representing Mark Peckham, 39, hit back at the request. She said six months have already passed since charges were laid on her client.
"I'm not sure that it's complex, I just think it's a failure to get on with it," she said.
"I'm not angry with the prosecutor, I'm angry with the officer in charge.
She said police have not sent her any of the cell data police had on hand or a picture of the murder weapon, only a vague description of it as a "cheese knife".
Counsel representing Peckham's co-accused Stevie-Lee Jordan, 25, agreed that a 10-week adjournment would be unreasonable.
"My client, meanwhile, sits in custody. She's a lady of no prior conviction," he said.
"It seems to be the more time you give, the more time they take. It's time to put the blow torch on them."
The stabbing in a quiet south Dubbo street sent shockwaves through the community in August 2023.
Just after midnight, on August 16, emergency services were called to the home after reports of a stabbing. On arrival, officers found a man suffering multiple stab wounds to his chest.
He was treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics, however, he died at the scene.
A crime scene was established, and investigations into the death commenced under Strike Force Honefoss.
Peckham was the first of the trio arrested. On September 19, detectives attended a correctional facility in Grafton where they charged the Newcastle man with murder.
On Tuesday, October 17, detectives stopped a Toyota Camry on the Hume Highway at Liverpool and arrested Daniel Fitton, 29. He was taken to Liverpool Police Station, where he was charged with murder and breach of bail.
A month later, on November 17, police arrested Jordan at a property on Limonite Place in Eagle Vale at around 11am. She was taken to Campbelltown Police Station where she was charged with accessory after the fact to murder.
Due to the time elapsed since the arrests judge Gary Wilson refused to grant a 10-week adjournment, instead granting just three weeks.
Peckham, Jordan and Fitton will again appear before the Dubbo Local Court on April 11.
