A former quarry worker from Queensland has been ordered to stand trial over the alleged murder of an Indigenous woman who disappeared over a decade ago in Cape York.
Thomas Maxwell Byrnes, 63, has been formally committed to face the Cairns Supreme Court on a charge of murder relating to the 2013 disappearance of a 23-year-old woman from Kowanyama, known as Ms Bernard for cultural reasons. She was last seen on February 10 that year at a hotel in the town of Coen.
It is alleged Ms Bernard left the venue with Mr Byrnes, with plans to travel to a quarry near Archer River, roughly 68 kilometres north of Coen, where he was employed at the time. She was reported missing days later by her family, prompting extensive searches of nearby bushland and abandoned mine shafts. Despite those efforts, her body has never been recovered.
Mr Byrnes was arrested and charged with murder in January 2023 and has remained in custody since. He has appeared in several committal hearings in the Cairns Magistrates Court, during which multiple witnesses gave evidence.
One witness, Dean Lloyd, a former manager at the Exchange Hotel in Coen, testified that Mr Byrnes was a frequent visitor to the bar. He recalled a conversation in which Mr Byrnes referenced taking Ms Bernard from the hotel and suggested, in vague terms, that something had happened afterward. According to Mr Lloyd, Byrnes issued a threatening warning: “If you say anything, you’ll be put beside her and never found.”
Another regular at the hotel, Jacqueline May Greenhalgh, also gave evidence. She recounted a group conversation following Ms Bernard’s disappearance in which Mr Byrnes allegedly made disturbing comments about her. She claimed Byrnes said authorities would never find Ms Bernard and used racially offensive language when speaking about her.
Additional testimony came from Coen resident Neville Shepherd, who recalled a conversation with Mr Byrnes in either 2017 or 2018. According to Shepherd, Byrnes claimed that Ms Bernard had bitten him and that he had “roughed her up” before she “took off.” Under cross-examination, Byrnes’ lawyer, James Sheridan, challenged Shepherd’s recollection, suggesting the wording may have been misheard due to Shepherd’s hearing difficulties. Shepherd conceded that Byrnes may have said “she was a bit rough” instead.
Magistrate Scott Luxton ruled there was sufficient evidence to commit the case to trial in the Cairns Supreme Court, though a trial date has not yet been set. Mr Byrnes has not entered a plea and remains in custody as proceedings continue.
