An aboriginal man has been charged with the murder of a 19-year-old woman whose body was found in a creek in Erina on the NSW Central Coast last month.
Adrian Noel Torrens, 53, who has a criminal history, was remanded in custody after facing Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney on Tuesday charged with one count of murder and 11 unrelated domestic violence offences.
Audrey Griffin, from Sydney, had been visiting friends on the Central Coast but vanished shortly after leaving the Hotel Gosford in the early hours of March 23 and saying she was going to take an Uber to where she was staying.
Her body was found face down in Erina Creek, Erina, after she was reported missing the next day, and police initially believed she had drowned.
Brisbane Water District Commander Darryl Jobson said a post-mortem did not suggest Ms Griffin’s death was suspicious, but a strike force was set up which eventually became a murder investigation, and public assistance was sought to identify a man they now allege is Torrens on CCTV.
Torrens was arrested on Monday, and in documents seen by The Daily Telegraph police allege he had a “physical altercation” with Ms Griffin where she screamed and tried to fight him off, leaving his DNA on her fingernail.
Torrens then allegedly struck her in the face, causing her to fall into the water unconscious and drown, or he held her under the water, according to the police documents, which also allege Torrens’ phone pinged near where her body was found at 2.43am.
A witness told police they heard a high-pitched scream at about 3am, which they dismissed as a fox.
Torrens’ high profile criminal lawyer Bashaar Elkheir would not comment outside court on Tuesday on whether his client would be fighting the charges.
The accused will face court again on June 20.
Ms Griffin was a keen athlete, a surf lifesaver, and a student at the University of Technology Sydney, and was farewelled by hundreds of mourners at her funeral on April 11.
Header image: Left, Adrian Torrens. Right, Audrey Griffin (Facebook).
