Stabbed in the back and neck and beaten to death with a hammer, the body of Danielle Easey was then transported and kept in a "makeshift coffin" before it was finally dumped in a Newcastle creek, detectives allege.
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And it is alleged that after Ms Easey's brutal death in the bedroom of a home at Narara on August 17 and before her body was found wrapped in plastic and partially submerged in a murky creek two weeks later, one of her "friends" allegedly pretended to be Ms Easey, messaging her mother via Facebook to ask for money.
The Newcastle Herald can reveal extensive details about the final days and gruesome death of Ms Easey after two of her associates, 33-year-old Justin Kent Dilosa and his former partner Carol Marie McHenry, 32, appeared in court charged over her murder on Friday.
Mr Dilosa has been charged with Ms Easey's murder and is alleged to have stabbed and bludgeoned the mother-of-two with a hammer in the bedroom of a home at Reeves Street on August 17.
A statement of police facts handed up to Magistrate Michael Morahan as part of an unsuccessful bail application for Ms McHenry has set out in detail what police allege happened to Ms Easey, the alleged role of the accused, and what they have hold detectives since their arrest.
In the days following her death, Mr Dilosa is accused of using black plastic and a doona to wrap Ms Easey's body, before storing it in a large cabinet, which police referred to as a "makeshift coffin", driving it around and finally dumping it in Cockle Creek.
Police say that when they arrested Mr Dilosa at an industrial estate at Cardiff on Thursday he was behind the wheel of a Mitsubishi Delica van. In the back of the van police allege they found a large cabinet, which detectives say had blood seeping out of it, and was bound with duct tape similar to the tape used to bound Ms Easey's body in black plastic.
Mr Dilosa has denied any involvement in Ms Easey's murder.
Meanwhile, Ms McHenry gave a lengthy police interview after her arrest on Thursday and allegedly said the trio had been hanging out and using ice in the lead-up to Ms Easey's death on August 17. Ms McHenry claims she fell asleep in the living room of the Narara home and awoke to noises coming from her bedroom, according to the police facts sheet.
She allegedly told detectives she approached the bedroom, saw Mr Dilosa standing over Ms Easey, watched as he struck Ms Easey once with a hammer, and then fled back to the couch and pretended to be asleep.
Ms McHenry has been charged with accessory after the fact to Ms Easey's murder and dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception for allegedly pretending to be Ms Easey and defrauding Ms Easey's mother, Jennifer Collier, of $50 on August 30, the day before Ms Easey's body was found.
"OK mum I need some money, I'm stressing out hard," Ms McHenry allegedly wrote using Ms Easey's Facebook account. "Trying to get into rehab it will be the only way."
Ms McHenry is then accused of providing her own bank details for Ms Collier to transfer the money into. Ms Collier allegedly transferred the money at 8.44am on August 31, about 90 minutes before her daughter's body was found in Cockle Creek.
During her interview with detectives, Ms McHenry allegedly admitted to messaging Ms Collier in order to conceal Ms Easey's death and to fraudulently obtain money from her, but said she was under duress and in fear of Mr Dilosa.
Ms McHenry appeared in Toronto Local Court on Friday via audio visual link from the Newcastle courthouse cells and made a bail application.
She sobbed on the screen as her solicitor, George McCarley, told Mr Morahan that Ms McHenry would abide by any condition in order to be granted bail and be reunited with her family.
But police prosecutor Sergeant Matt Paine strongly opposed bail being granted and said the police case was strong, Ms McHenry had made admissions, there were concerns she would fail to appear and contact or interfere with witnesses and a jail term was likely if she was ultimately convicted.
Magistrate Morahan sided with the police.
"This is an extremely serious offence," Mr Morahan said. "Actually it doesn't get much more serious.
"The fears of the prosecution are well founded and in all of the circumstances I am not prepared to grant bail and bail will be refused."
Ms McHenry's matter was adjourned to Toronto Local Court on October 30.
Across the other side of Lake Macquarie, at about the same time, Mr Dilosa's matter was being mentioned in Belmont Local Court.
He did not come up on the screen or apply for bail and the matter was adjourned to Gosford Local Court on November 15.
A handful of family and friends of Ms Easey were in court for the mention of Mr Dilosa's matter, which lasted only a few minutes.
Detectives allege that Ms Easey, Ms McHenry and Mr Dilosa began hanging out on August 14, when Ms Easey went to a hotel at The Entrance and met up with Ms McHenry.
From there police allege phone records show the pair drove from The Entrance to the house at Reeves Street, Narara, on the night of August 14 and remained together until the afternoon of August 17, when police allege Ms Easey was murdered.
During the interim, on August 16, the trio allegedly went to a service station at Charmhaven and Ms McHenry withdrew some cash. This was allegedly the last confirmed sighting of Ms Easey on CCTV.
The next morning, as early as 5am, the trio were allegedly on the road and headed south to Nowra and the South Coast Correctional Centre so Ms McHenry could visit an inmate.
Police allege that at 12.37pm that day mobile phone records show that Ms Easey had a nearly three minute conversation with her boyfriend, Benjamin Todd, an inmate at Cessnock Correctional Centre. It is believed to be the last phone conversation Ms Easey had.
It's alleged that a few hours after arriving at Nowra, phone records tracked the trio's mobile phones as they headed north back to the Central Coast.
At 3.48pm on August 17, Ms Easey's phone was allegedly turned off.
Detectives say that it was at some stage after driving from Nowra to the house at Reeves Street, Narara, that Ms Easey was murdered.
At 4pm on August 25, police say telecommunications records show that Ms Easey's phone was turned back on. But this time the SIM card in it allegedly belonged to Ms McHenry.
Police allege she continued to use Ms Easey's phone until August 31, when news that a body had been found in Cockle Creek began spreading online.
On September 2, Ms Easey's phone was found on the front lawn of a home at Berowra Heights, in Sydney's north. The phone still contained Ms McHenry's SIM card, police allege.
Detectives claim Ms McHenry and Mr Dilosa broke up after August 17 and Ms McHenry moved out of the Narara home.
