Murder accused told missing woman’s daughter ‘she’s gone on holidays’: court

The daughter of a missing woman discovered her mother’s valuables had been taken by a housemate later accused of her murder, a jury has heard.

Donna Louise Howe was last seen by her daughter at a Mother’s Day dinner on May 8, 2022, a court was told.

Tiana Jade Howe called and texted her 57-year-old mother multiple times afterwards but did not receive a response.

Her mother’s body was found a month later in the Glass House Mountains on the Sunshine Coast Hinterland.

Clinton Travis Oliver and Braydon Franklin on Monday both pleaded not guilty to murdering Howe.

They both pleaded guilty to interfering with a corpse by taking her body to a remote mountain track and dousing it with petrol before setting it alight.

Crown prosecutor Nathan Crane previously alleged Howe was tied up and killed in her own home after “growing animosity” with Oliver and Franklin over claims she was stealing from their partners.

Oliver was living in a room at Howe’s Caboolture house with his partner at the time, and Franklin was a frequent visitor as his partner also lived there.

Tiana told the jury she was able to access her mother’s house after she disappeared, finding her mother’s personal items in her bedroom, such as clothes, a toothbrush and makeup.

She spoke with Oliver, who said her mother had “gone on holidays”, the Brisbane Supreme Court jury heard.

Oliver claimed unknown people had picked up her mother and taken her to Gin Gin, more than 300 kilometres away, the daughter said.

She later called police to report a missing person.

Tiana did not return to the house until after her mother’s remains had been found and police had completed a forensic search of the property.

The jury heard she found some of her mother’s possessions had been moved to different places around the house, including to the bedrooms of Oliver and his partner.

She also found her mother’s distinctive jewellery in Oliver’s bedroom, the jury was told.

Under cross-examination from Franklin’s barrister, Damian Walsh, Tiana agreed her mother had wanted Oliver to stop living in her house because of the mess caused by his repair of cars and motorbikes.

The moment Howe’s skeletal remains were found was detailed to the jury on Monday.

Bayley Travis O’Day testified that he was on a Glass House Mountains four-wheel-drive trip on June 7, 2022, when his group was stopped by overgrowth on a disused dirt road.

“That’s where we found the remains. I didn’t really know what it was until I got out of the car,” he said.

“For some reason, I just had a bad feeling. I didn’t really recognise what it would be, so I thought ‘I’ll just check it out’.”

The trial continues before Justice Martin Burns.

AAP