3 days ago
Rohen James Hanson trial begins over the alleged 2021 murder of his partner
A man accused of murdering his partner in a remote cabin has admitted to initially lying to police about her death, a court has heard.
Rohen James Hanson, 42, was charged with murder after Dee Annear's death more than three years ago during a camping trip.
Ms Annear, 34, was found dead outside a cabin in Bulga Forest on the New South Wales Mid North Coast on September 18, 2021.
The trial began on Monday in the Supreme Court, sitting in Newcastle in front of Justice Ian Harrison, and is expected to run for two weeks.
When asked how he pleaded to the charge of murder, Mr Hanson said, "Not guilty to murder, but guilty to manslaughter."
Crown prosecutor Carl Young rejected this plea, as murder is the only charge available for the jury to decide upon.
Mr Young told the jury the pair had a volatile and violent relationship, "one of regular drunken arguments and fights".
The relationship was characterised by "the tendency of the accused to physically assault Ms Annear during an argument," he said.
At the time of Ms Annear's death, they were visiting from their home in Wingham on a multi-day camping trip to a remote logger's cabin they called "the witch's hut".
Mr Young told the court, "What happens between 6pm Friday and the accused calling triple-zero at 10:45am [the next day] is the key issue."
On the recording of the triple-zero calls played for the jury, a distressed Mr Hanson is heard telling the operator, "There's no reviving her … she's passed away while I went to go get help."
Mr Young said Mr Hanson lied repeatedly in two triple-zero calls, as well as to first responders and in a police interview, about Ms Annear sustaining injuries in a car crash on Pole Dark Road 3.5 kilometres away from where the two were staying.
After being arrested and charged with murder on September 21, 2021, Mr Hanson admitted he lied and that the two had actually gotten into an argument in the hut on the night of September 17, 2021.
The prosecution said Mr Hanson then told police multiple different accounts of a fight that involved Ms Annear hitting him in the head with a beer bottle and him tackling her into a wall and knocking her out.
Mr Young said Mr Hanson told police, "I didn't mean it, I tackled her and she hit her head."
The prosecution told the court that autopsy evidence showed Ms Annear had fractures to her skull, jaw, nose and ribs along an injury consistent with a strangulation attempt.
Defence barrister Peter Krisenthal acknowledged that Mr Hanson lied initially, but told jurors that within two days of his initial remarks, he recanted and told the police the truth.
Mr Krisenthal said Mr Hanson's attempt to plead guilty to manslaughter was important "because that's Mr Hanson's acceptance that he caused the death".
Mr Krisenthal said Mr Hanson did not intend to kill or seriously harm Ms Annear and that he was acting in self-defence after Ms Annear initially attacked him with a beer bottle after the pair had been drinking.
Evidence from family members and friends is expected to be heard in the coming days.
