A young woman is to appear in an Adelaide court after being charged with murdering her elderly grandfather in his own home earlier this month.
Brittney Dwyer, 19, and her 21-year-old friend Bernadette Burns are expected to appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Tuesday after being extradited from Brisbane.
The pair were formally charged on Monday with murdering 81-year-old Robert Whitwell whose body was found in his north Adelaide home on August 8.
“Two women who were extradited from Queensland by South Australia Police have been charged with murder following the death of a man at Craigmore earlier this month,” SA Police said in a statement late on Monday night.
Dwyer and Burns showed little emotion when they faced the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Monday where the order for their extradition was granted.
Police initially believed Mr Whitwell had died of natural causes but their suspicions were aroused when several “unusual” aspects of the case could not be explained.
“At this time police are not able to elaborate further on the cause of death, or what factors in the case were initially considered ‘unexplained’,” Detective Inspector Greg Hutchins said on Monday.
“These factors are central to the ongoing investigation.”
-AAP
