Northern Territory police have charged two people with an alleged shooting incident that killed a woman earlier this week after a human leg was discovered on a road on the outskirts of Darwin.
Key points:
- The “partially hidden” body was found Wednesday in Virginia, in rural Darwin
- Police believe the body was moved after an alleged collision
- The couple will go to court today
The leg was found on the Stuart Highway on Tuesday, prompting a major search that led authorities to locate a body the next day.
In a statement this morning, police said a 23-year-old man and a 50-year-old woman have been charged with misconduct in connection with a corpse, attempting to pervert the course of justice and destroy evidence.
The man is also facing a charge of running over and running away, as well as a second count of misconduct with respect to a corpse.
Police believe the incident happened Monday night.
Yesterday, Detective Sergeant Major Paul Morrissey said that after identifying a “suspicious vehicle”, police went to another location where he found the body, which had been “partially hidden” and was in “compatible condition” hit by a vehicle “.
Police found the woman’s body at a Jenkins Road site in Virginia. (ABC News: Djamal Cook)
The body was moved to “cover” the collision, according to police
The man and woman have been arrested for going to the Darwin Local Court today.
Sergeant Major Morrissey said police alleged that the man was the driver of the vehicle and that the woman had helped him move the body to another location.
“Investigations are ongoing, but at this stage we believe the victim’s body was removed from the scene by the driver and his accomplice after the collision,” he said.
“Hitting someone deadly with your vehicle and then doing everything you can to cover it up is reprehensible behavior.”
He said the information and images from the dashboard provided by members of the public had played a “vital role” in the arrest of the police couple.
Posted 1 hour ago 1 hour Friday, June 3, 2022 at 1:29 AM, updated 1 hour ago Friday, June 3, 2022 at 1:46 AM