A man has lost his bid to overturn his conviction for killing his ex-girlfriend after the mother-of-two was found upside down and submerged in a wheelie bin.
David Bagster was jailed in 2022 for 11 years and six months after being found guilty of the manslaughter of his ex-partner Valmai ‘Jane’ Birch, 34.
Ms Birch’s body was found inside a wheelie bin half filled with water which was standing in the bathroom of her Woonona apartment in March 2011. She was last seen alive two weeks earlier.
Valmai ‘Jane’ Birch was found dead in a wheelie bin in Woonona in early 2011. Picture: NSW Police
David Bagster was arrested nearly a decade later. Picture: NSW Police
An autopsy was unable to confirm the cause of her death but suggested it could be attributed to asphyxia, drowning, strangulation or a drug overdose.
Bagster was arrested nearly a decade after the death of his on-again-off-again lover, but had continued to maintain his innocence.
He argued the jury erred in finding him guilty because manslaughter had not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt due to inconclusive evidence about the cause of Ms Birch’s death.
On Friday, the Court of Criminal Appeal dismissed Bagster’s appeal.
He will be eligible for parole in September 2027 after serving eight years of his sentence.
More to come.