Source : Perth Now news
A man who allegedly murdered a brothel owner will face trial in Victoria’s Supreme Court as charges of rape and constructive murder were thrown out.
Michael James Chalmers, 36, was charged by police in late 2024 after a 62-year-old woman, given the moniker Yuko by sex worker advocates, was found dead inside a Melbourne brothel on November 29.
It’s alleged Mr Chalmers killed Yuko at the Rainbow Garden brothel in Footscray in the early hours of November 27.
He returned before the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday morning as magistrate Vincenzo Caltabiano found the evidence relied on for two charges against the accused man were “not sufficient to support a conviction”.
The judgment came after Mr Chalmers faced a committal hearing, where the evidence sought to be relied on is tested by a magistrate, on three charges; murder, rape and constructive murder — alleged to be an unintentional killing during rape.
Prosecutors alleged Mr Chalmers attended the Rainbow Garden after making a number of online searches including for “brothels near me” and was captured on CCTV at the property.
It’s alleged the footage captured Yuko and a male, said to be at the accused, walk down the hall and enter a bedroom where a conversation occurs over about two minutes.
The male is allegedly seen grabbing the woman in a headlock, with her fighting back, before she was forced onto a bed and the door closed, the scene described by prosecutors as “quite shocking acts of violence”.
Half an hour later, it’s alleged, the door reopens and Mr Chalmers emerges with Yuko seen motionless in the room.
Prosecutors alleged Yuko was left either unconscious or dead and that the presence of Mr Chalmers DNA on her body and injuries to her anus indicated she’d been raped.
Last week, defence lawyer Barnaby Johnston argued the rape and constructive murder charges against Mr Chalmers should be tossed because there was insufficient evidence to prove a rape occurred.
He told the court the alleged injuries to her anus could have been caused by any of the dozen clients the woman had seen in the week before her death or for other reasons.
“It is utter guesswork to say how those injuries occurred,” he argued.
Mr Johnston said the prosecution has “nailed their colours to the mast” by framing the constructive murder charge as occurring during the alleged rape.
Prosecutor Jordan Johnston argued the charge of rape was a “strong circumstantial case” that a jury could find proven based on the context surrounding Yuko’s death.
He told the court it was the “uncategorical opinion” of a medical examiner, that the injuries to the woman’s anus were caused by “blunt force trauma”, thought she accepted there was a “remote possibility” of other causes such as a bowel movement.
Handing down his judgment, Mr Caltabiano said the evidence before him did not support a conclusion the injuries were caused by Mr Chalmers, noting the examiner could only say they occured in the hours or days before her death.
He said he was satisfied there was not evidence of a sufficient weight to support a conviction on the charges of rape and constructive murder, dismissing them.
But Mr Caltabiano said the evidence could support a conviction on the murder charge and directed Mr Chalmers to stand trial.
Mr Chalmers then formally entered a not guilty plea to the final remaining charge of murder.
Previously the court was told two forensic pathologists, who examined Yuko’s body, came to differing conclusions on her cause of death.
Joanna Ho found her cause of death to be “unascertained” but said there was indicators she may have died from asphyxia, while Joanna Glengarry found she died from broad neck compression, smothering or gagging.
Mr Chalmers will next appear in the Victorian Supreme Court for a directions hearing on April 16.
