Accused killer’s third bid for freedom after allegedly dumping body in river

A Queensland man accused of killing his former partner before dumping her body in the Brisbane River has made a third bid for freedom.

Jesse Wahlen Beale allegedly murdered mother-of-two Crystal Beale after they went out to dinner in Sunnybank in Brisbane’s south in 2025.

She was said to have been dropped off by Mr Beale on Ryan Street in West End about 9.30pm. She was allegedly murdered that evening, and her body taken to the river near Orleigh Park in West End.

Mr Beale allegedly killed the 49-year-old after she threatened him over alleged images he had kept of Ms Beale being sexually assaulted while unconscious.

Mr Beale has so far made two unsuccessful bail applications and hired top barrister Saul Holt KC to represent him for an appeal relating to his most recent refusal, which related to a report by defence expert witness Professor John Duflou.

Holt relied on the report, which found drowning could not be excluded as a cause of death, for the second application for bail. This was also combined with claims of her self-harm, substance abuse and threats of suicide, which had significantly weakened the allegations.

He said the new evidence “dramatically changes the picture” for the prosecution case.

The bail application was ultimately refused by Justice Patrick McAfferty.

“That contested issue opens up questions of causation, opens up questions of time, and especially in circumstances where the evidence is that … [Mr Beale] was in company with [Ms Beale] about 9.55pm, and the body of the deceased is found … around 5.30am,” Holt told the Court of Appeal on Monday.

Holt said the only reason Beale was refused bail was because of his flight risk.

Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Caroline Marco said the report did not detract from the conclusion that Mr Beale allegedly caused Ms Beale’s neck injuries, and put her body in the water.

She said the judge who ruled on Mr Beale’s bail application was not compelled by the report to find that there had been a material change of circumstances.

Marco said the allegation Mr Beale caused the significant neck injuries to Ms Beale had always been a fundamental premise of the prosecution case.

“Those neck injuries may not be able to be proved irrefutably to have caused death, but notwithstanding, it cannot be denied they were seriously life-threatening,” she said.