An eight-year-old grandfather was brutally and randomly attacked on the street by a Queensland man, who then confessed to killing him and left the body to rot in a trash can.
However, in an unexpected turn of events at Paul John Conoley’s arraignment on Friday morning, the prosecution said they will not pursue a second unconnected murder charge that was allegedly committed a year prior to the deadly assault.
Steven Church, 50, was killed in April 2019 at a crosswalk in the Logan suburb of Woodridge, south of Brisbane. Conoley admitted to the crime.
Additionally, he was accused of killing John Imber, 53, on the Gold Coast in 2017, but according to Crown Attorney Mark Green, the case will not be pursued.
Justice David Jackson of the Supreme Court said that Conoley was released based on the indictment.
Conoley was taken to the dock by correction services while sporting a black suit and neck-length hair.
When asked whether he had any other comments to make on his guilty plea, he simply said, “No, Your Honor.”
Conoley, a Beenleigh homeless man, is accused by the Crown of killing Mr. Church near the junction of Defiance and North Roads in Woodridge at about 5 in the morning.
Then, before running away, he is accused of attempting to put Mr. Church’s corpse in a wheelie bin.
On the way to the hospital, Mr. Church passed away.
They had never met and were total strangers.
Practitioners need a two-hour sentence hearing in February, the court was informed.
»Paul John Conoley confesses Queensland murder«