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Claremont serial killer trial LIVE: Bradley Edwards confesses to Karrakatta rape

Updated October 21, 2019 — 7:15pm,first published 1:33pm

7.15pm on Oct 21, 2019

Edwards to be sentenced for rape, sex attack after murder trial is finished

Today's proceedings are wrapping up.

Justice Hall has indicated Edwards will not be sentenced for the Huntingdale sex attack and Karrakatta rape until the conclusion of his murder trial.

His trial, if it commences in mid-November as scheduled, will conclude by June 2020.

7.10pm on Oct 21, 2019

Police DNA tested disposed of Sprite bottle before arresting Edwards

It's been revealed detectives monitoring Edwards before his arrest retrieved a Sprite bottle he disposed of for DNA testing.

Mr Yovich has told the court there will be no issues into the legality of Edwards' arrest, and that any evidence relating to the testing of the bottle was unlikely to be called.

Edwards' DNA was taken formally shortly after his arrest.

It was also revealed covert officers were involved in the Claremont serial killings investigation, and may be required to give evidence in closed court during trial.

6.21pm on Oct 21, 2019

Defence wants psychology report into why Edwards attacked a woman in 1990 excluded from trial

Defence lawyer Paul Yovich wants a report written by a court-ordered psychologist in 1990 - after Edwards pleaded guilty to assaulting a woman at Hollywood Hospital - to be left out of his trial.

The report found a spike in instability in his life contributed to the assault, which the state says is a trend in his later, more serious alleged offending.

However Edwards claimed he was unsure of his motive for the attack.

"[Mr Edwards] says to both authors [of the report], 'I don't know why I did it'," Mr Yovich said.

"In exploring what might have been going on, a number of things are talked about; infidelity, frustration at work, a remark the victim made that he found upsetting."

He says the summary notes of Edwards' reasonings for committing the offence were not a reliable summary of what he actually said at the time, and that neither report author had any memory of their time with Edwards.

He said the offending was "unplanned, spontaneous and that capture was inevitable", which was in contrast to the nature of his other accused offending.

"[The Hollywood Hospital report] cannot help your honour in the logical proof of the identity of the offender in the [Claremont murder charges]," he said.

Justice Hall has reserved his decision as to whether the emotional upset evidence will be allowed at trial.

5.37pm on Oct 21, 2019

'Marriage started breaking down weeks before Karrakatta rape': prosecutors

State prosecutor Carmel Barbagallo is now arguing why Edwards' personal circumstances and marriage turmoil are relevant to their case, and should be included at trial.

She said his marriage was "in trouble" by New Years' Eve 1994, when his first wife was having an affair.

"This was six weeks before the attack on [Karrakatta rape victim]," she said.

"This relationship was in trouble as early as that."

In early January 1996, his wife moves into her parent's home to decide whether to stay with Edwards or the man she is having an affair with.

Ms Barbagallo claims Edwards showed up unannounced on Australia Day 1996, and asked his wife to watch the fireworks with him.

She said he felt rejected when she declined his invitation.

Later that night Sarah Spiers is murdered.

Justice Hall questioned whether a rejection to attend the Australia Day fireworks would warrant a reaction of emotional turmoil.

"A refusal to go with someone to fireworks doesn't seem in itself something that would cause upset, unless it's indicative of something else, unless it's indicative of rejection as a whole," he said.

In June 1996, his first wife tells the man she is having an affair with that they are having a baby.

That same month, Jane Rimmer is murdered.

In March 1997, when Ciara Glennon is murdered, the state says this event occurred around 10 days after Edwards' and his first wife sold their marital home, signalling the "finality" of their relationship.

Ms Barbagallo claims Edwards' murdered the three women after "infidelity or some event" occurring on each occassion with his first wife, which created a spike in emotional upset.

3.41pm on Oct 21, 2019

Relevance of 'emotional upset' in Mr Edwards' life at time of murders being argued

The defence is now arguing what relevance Mr Edwards' personal circumstances around the time of the Claremont murder has on the state's case against him.

Mr Edwards' marriage breakdown occurred between 1994 and 1997, which the state claims goes towards his motive to allegedly seek out and attack women he didn't know.

"The state's argument is that the existence of a particular state of emotional upset in the accused is capable of affecting the question of whether he committed the offences," Mr Yovich said.

Mr Yovich is arguing an assault Mr Edwards' carried out on a social worker at Hollywood Hospital in 1990, and his emotional upset at that time, was not relevant to the murder charges.

Mr Edwards attempted to drag the social worker into a bathroom. He attacked her from behind and covered her mouth with a material, preventing her from being able to scream. She managed to get free, and security held Mr Edwards until he was arrested.

Mr Yovich said that offence was "spontaneous", however the state argues it occurred a day after Mr Edwards discovered his girlfriend had cheated on him.

Mr Yovich says there is no "logical connection" between Mr Edwards' hypothetical state of emotional upset and the alleged commission of these offences.

He has referenced the case of Gerard Baden-Clay, who murdered his wife, Allison, in 2012 in Queensland, saying Baden-Clay's motive was "bound up with the nature of the relationship" with the victim.

"That's not the case here of course, because in this case there is no relationship," he said.

3.28pm on Oct 21, 2019

The Huntingdale sex attack Edwards committed as a 19-year-old

Mr Edwards' has also today confessed to a sex attack in Huntingdale in 1988.

The state alleges the reopening of that cold case was the major breakthrough in charging Mr Edwards' with the Claremont murders, due to an alleged DNA link discovered in 2016.

Here are the details of that offence, which the state read aloud in February during an earlier hearing.

The state said in February 1988 Mr Edwards entered a Huntingdale home in the middle of the night and assaulted an 18-year-old woman.

Ms Barbagallo said Mr Edwards unplugged the family's home phone and entered the teenager's room.

He sat on her back and straddled her while trying to force fabric into her mouth.

The woman struggled and Mr Edwards ran from the scene, leaving behind a silk kimono.

The kimono was later tested in December 2016, and Mr Edwards DNA profile was detected.

The state said a number of 'prowling' incidents occurred in Huntingdale, within a one kilometre radius from Mr Edwards family home at the time.

The state alleges he had an obsession for women's underwear and night gowns.

He was aged 19 at the time.

3.21pm on Oct 21, 2019

Edwards admits he 'grabbed, bound and raped' teenager in Claremont in 1995

Mr Edwards has changed his plea during today's hearing, confessing to the abduction and rape of a 17-year-old girl at Karrakatta Cemetery in 1995. Here are the state's facts in relation to that charge, which were read aloud during an earlier hearing in February.

The state said Mr Edwards abducted a 17-year-old girl as she was walking to a friend's house after a night out at Club Bay View in Claremont in 1995.

He grabbed her from behind, bound her hands together, gagged her and put a hood over her head.

He then carryied her into his car, took her to an isolated area of Karrakatta Cemetery and twice raped her.

He did not speak during the assault and the woman was left half naked in bushland.

A male's DNA sample, taken from the woman after the attack, was later found to match the accused's profile.

2.54pm on Oct 21, 2019

Defence says submission of late evidence may impact accused's right to a fair trial

Mr Edwards' lawyer, Paul Yovich is now arguing whether the submission of a number of new witness statements at this late stage in the legal process enabled his client a fair trial.

"The accused must be informed of the relevant evidence against him to be prepared for trial," he said.

Any evidence submitted after July 30, must be approved by trial judge, Justice Stephen Hall.

Most of the new prosecution witness statements have come about from pre-trial briefings of prosecution witnesses, which led to new lines of enquiry, or existing statements being expanded.

Mr Yovich said the additions to witness statements had altered the evidence, and that the defence would not be ready with its expert responses in relation to the fibre and DNA evidence until five weeks into the trial.

The trial will call civilian witnesses first, followed by police officers, and then expert witnesses.

Justice Hall has reserved his decision on what new witness statements will be allowed.

2.44pm on Oct 21, 2019

Telstra-issued work trousers under spotlight as state gathers new witnesses

By Heather McNeill

There are a number of proposed new witnesses to speak to fibres relating to the blue Telstra-issued work trousers Edwards would have worn at the time of the alleged murders in 1996 and 1997.

The defence is opposing one witness, who would give evidence on the "rarity" of the particular fabric and fibre of the trousers, from being heard at trial.

The directions hearing earlier heard detectives travelled to Melbourne recently to gather further evidence on the trouser fibres.

The state is alleging common fibres found on the work trousers were also found on Ciara Glennon and Jane Rimmer's bodies.

2.15pm on Oct 21, 2019

State wants to call expert on DNA found under Ms Glennon's fingernails

Ms Barbagallo has foreshadowed, if the defence argues the DNA found underneath Ms Glennon's fingernails - allegedly Mr Edwards' - arrived there by passive contact, the state would like to introduce a new forensic witness to explain the difference between passive contact DNA and fingernail scrapings.

She said Mr Edwards claimed in his police interview he wasn't in Claremont the night Ms Glennon was abducted, but that the state "has no idea" if he may say he was at trial, and therefore would like to be prepared with a new expert witness if he does.