A MAN accused of raping and murdering an elderly woman during an alleged break-in at a Central Coast nursing home in 2023 has pleaded not guilty and will face a trial in Newcastle Supreme Court.
The man, who cannot be identified due to a court order, appeared in the NSW Supreme Court on Friday via audio-visual link from jail.
He was arraigned and pleaded not guilty to murder, an alternative charge of manslaughter, aggravated sexual assault and inflict actual bodily harm and aggravated break and enter.
However, the man did plead guilty to an alternative charge of sexual intercourse without consent relating to the attack on the elderly woman at the nursing home in the early hours of November 15, 2023.
He will face a judge-alone trial in Newcastle Supreme Court starting in February next year and focusing primarily on the evidence of medical experts and police.
Sex Crimes Squad detectives arrested the man at Caves Beach about six days after the alleged attack at the nursing home and charged him with a number of serious sexual assault and break-in offences.
Police revealed about two weeks later that the woman, aged in her 90s, had died in hospital and said investigations were continuing while they awaited the results of an autopsy.
In December 2024, more than a year after the elderly woman's death, detectives upgraded the man's charges to murder and manslaughter.
Police have said they were called to the nursing home after a man broke in about 12.40am on November 15, 2023 and allegedly sexually assaulted an elderly resident.
The woman was taken to hospital and treated for serious injuries, while police established a crime scene and handed the matter over to specialist Sex Crimes Squad detectives.
Police searched a house at The Entrance two days after the alleged attack and said they found electronics, SIM cards and clothing relevant to their investigation.
On November 21, detectives went to a home at Caves Beach and arrested the man after he attempted to flee from police.
He was taken to hospital for minor injuries to his arm and later charged with a number of serious sexual assault and break-in offences.
After the woman's death on November 28, 2023, police spent months awaiting the results of an autopsy to determine the woman's cause of death before the man's charges were upgraded to murder in December 2024.
After lengthy delays in Gosford Local Court, the man was committed for trial in May and faced the NSW Supreme Court on Friday where he was formally arraigned and entered pleas.
The judge-alone trial is listed to start in Newcastle Supreme Court on February 1, 2027.
