A woman who was allegedly raped and murdered in a Footscray brothel died from some form of neck compression or smothering, a forensic pathologist has told a Melbourne Court.
Michael James Chalmers, 36, has been charged over the death of the 62-year-old woman, whose body was found by police inside the 149 Rainbow Garden brothel in Footscray in November 2024.
Mr Chalmers is also accused of raping the woman.
He is yet to enter a formal plea.
Floral tributes placed outside a Footscray brothel, where a woman was allegedly murdered in November 2024. (ABC News: Leanne Wong)
On Wednesday, two forensic pathologists from the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine (VIFM) gave evidence at a committal hearing in the Melbourne Magistrates Court.
Under cross-examination, Dr Joanne Ho said she could not say conclusively how the woman had died, but said there were factors suggestive of death being caused by strangulation or smothering.
She said she observed pinpoint bruising to the woman’s head, which was not “diagnostic” of an asphyxia death.
She could not say how the bruising came about.
Police at the Rainbow Garden adult entertainment club in Footscray, where a woman was allegedly murdered in November 2024. (ABC News)
But the court heard Ms Ho’s colleague, Dr Joanna Glengarry, came to a “less conservative” conclusion.
“You are of the view the death occurred by virtue of some broad neck compression or smothering or gagging?” Mr Chalmers’s lawyer, Barnaby Johnston, asked her.
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“Yes,” Dr Glengarry replied.
Police informant, Detective Senior Constable Daniel Fallone, said the woman’s daughter had disclosed she had hypertension or heart disease.
Under questioning from Mr Johnston, he also said that an incident described by the woman’s daughter, where she was struck by a man in the weeks leading up to her death, was not reported to police.
He said police had only collected a statement from one person who had attended the brothel during the week before the woman’s death, and the blood found in the woman’s room was not tested.
The woman’s supporters set up a tribute outside the court on Wednesday. (ABC News)
Outside the court, advocates for sex workers formed a red lantern display in honour of the alleged victim.
“By showing up and having a strong presence today, we’re hoping to keep her story and her presence alive,” Damien Nguyen from the Rising Red Lantern Project said.
At the end of the committal process, a magistrate will decide whether the matter goes to trial.
The victim’s name was not made available to the media, with a magistrate making the decision to redact her name from charge sheets.
The woman’s supporters tied paper lanterns to the front of the court building on Wednesday. (ABC News)