Murdered ‘Quaker girl’ Danielle Easey was stabbed in the back and neck and repeatedly bashed in the head with a hammer, police allege.
Her accused killer’s girlfriend then allegedly stole her phone and messaged her mum asking for $50 to both cover up the crime and profit from it.
Ms Easey’s body was taped up in black plastic and stored in a big cabinet detectives called a ‘makeshift coffin’ until it was dumped in a creek.
Murdered ‘quaker girl’ Danielle Easey was stabbed in the back and neck and repeatedly bashed in the head with a hammer, police allege
Carol Marie Dawson McHenry, 32, was arrested at a home in Holmesville, on the NSW central coast, on Thursday and charged with being an accessory to the murder of Danielle Easey
Justin Kent Dilosa, 33, is charged with murdering her at a share house in Gosford on August 17 and disposing of her body in Cockle Creek in Lake Macquarie.
His ex-girlfriend Carol Marie Dawson McHenry, 32, is charged with being an accessory after the fact and defrauding Ms Easey’s mother.
‘OK mum I need some money, I’m stressing out hard. Trying to get into rehab it will be the only way,’ she allegedly wrote pretending to be Ms Easey, 29.
She then allegedly provided her own bank details and the money was wired to her account just 90 minutes before the victim’s body was found.
Both were arrested on Thursday and faced court in separate hearings the next day where McHenry’s admissions to detectives were presented.
The trio spent three days together at the house on Reeves Street, Narara, smoking ice and hanging out.
McHenry – a mother-of-four – is facing charges of being an accessory murder and dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception
McHenry told police in a statement of facts seen by the Newcastle Herald that she fell asleep on the couch on August 17 before being woken up by noises.
She went towards the bedroom and claimed to see Dilosa bash Ms Easey with the hammer as he was standing over her, then ran back to the living room and pretended to be asleep.
Police alleged Dilosa put the body in the cabinet and loaded it in the back of his van where it lay as he drove around with it for some time.
When he was pulled over on Thursday the cabinet was still there and covered in blood, police said.
Dilosa denies any involvement in Ms Easey’s death.
McHenry allegedly put her own SIM card in Ms Easey’s phone after he death and used it until news of her body being found spread on August 31.
On Thursday detectives arrested a 33-year-old man at an industrial premise at Cardiff just before 10am and took him to Belmont Police Station. About an hour later, a 32-year-old woman was arrested at a home at Holmesville and taken to Toronto Police Station
A Mitsubishi Delica, which police believe was the car used to transport Ms Easey’s body, was seized and has been forensically examined
The mother-of-four claimed to police that she helped Dilosa and sent the messages to the victim’s mother under duress.
Her application for bail on Friday was denied.
Speaking in the wake of the arrests, Acting Detective Superintendent Jason Dickinson revealed Ms Easey suffered a violent end.
‘A post-mortem examination confirmed that Danielle had been seriously assaulted and suffered stab wounds,’ he said.
Mr Dickinson said the two people who were arrested had known Ms Easey for ‘some time’.
Amid the arrests on Thursday, detectives executed two crime scene warrants at the Cardiff industrial premise.
They also searched a Holmesville house and a home at Narara, almost an hour away.
A Mitsubishi Delica, which police allege was the car was used to transport Ms Easey’s body, was seized and has been forensically examined.
Ms Easey made national headlines in 1989 when she was born on a grass nature strip following the Newcastle earthquake.
Ms Easey (pictured as a baby being held by mother Jennifer) was given the nickname ‘Quaker’ after she was born on a patch of grass during Newcastle’s 1989 earthquake
Homicide Squad detectives arrested two people in connection to the murder of Danielle Easey on Thursday
Detectives searched the Cardiff industrial premise (pictured) and a home at Narara
When the hospital was evacuated, her mother Jennifer Collier was forced to give birth in a makeshift tent made of sheets.
Ms Easey was born 90 minutes after the 5.6 tremor struck Newcastle – reducing part of the city to rubble.
She was given the nickname ‘Quaker’ after her birth.
The 29-year-old had two children, Reef and Mahli, and a close friend told Daily Mail Australia she was working hard to build a life for them.
In the months before she died, Ms Easey had been studying to be a teacher’s aide. Her children were in the care of their fathers, and she was working to get away from a ‘bad crowd’ she had been associating with.
Mr Easey’s brother Brendan told Newcastle News of his family’s relief detectives had made arrests.
‘The detectives have been great, we would like to thank the public for their support and, of course, our family and friends for helping us stay strong during this horrible ordeal,’ he said.
‘It is the next step in the ordeal but at least now we can focus on Dell and how she changed all of our lives for the better.’
Ms Easey’s mother Jenny described her daughter as a beautiful person and terrific mother, Nine News reported.
‘Danielle was a beautiful person, she was a terrific mother, she had a big heart,’ she said.
‘I still think it’s a dream sometimes that I wish I could wake up from.’
Ms Easey revealed on the Facebook post that she was living in fear in her own house the year before her death
Ms Easey, a mother-of-two, had been trying desperately to get her life back on track in the months before she was killed
Benjamin Todd, the boyfriend of Danielle Easey, delivered an emotional tribute at her funeral last Saturday. He had arrived on day release from prison, where he is locked up on charges of damaging property and assault
On Saturday, Ms Easey’s boyfriend Ben Todd was allowed out of jail in handcuffs on day release to join hundreds at her funeral.
Todd said he would never forgive himself for not being there when she was allegedly killed.
The convict, who is serving a sentence at Shortland Correctional Centre for common assault and damaging property, was behind bars at the time of her death.
He arrived at the service in Ryhope, near Newcastle wearing handcuffs and leg chains, flanked by two prison officers to prevent him from fleeing custody during the service.
‘I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to protect you,’ he said through tears. ‘I’ll never forgive myself.’
Mr Todd said he had ‘the most amazing time’ with Ms Easey, who he said made him laugh every day and showered him with gifts, as he did for her.
‘I truly loved her and I’m so glad I got to spend what little time I had with her,’ he said.
Mr Todd told mourners he would ‘never forgive himself’ for not being able to protect Ms Easey, whose body was found wrapped up in plastic on the banks of Cockle Creek in Lake Macquarie
Ms Easey’s mother, Jennifer Collier (centre) was seen tearfully hugging mourners, and led the procession our of the chapel after the service
Benjamin Todd (left), the boyfriend of Danielle Easey, was consoled by the woman’s brother, Brendan (right), after speaking at the funeral service
Ms Easey’s brother, Brendan (pictured) was seen embracing mourners outside the chapel, as his sister Tahnee (right) stood to the side
Mr Todd stood back as the balloons were released, and was quickly escorted into a a police van when the funeral ended
The body of murder victim Danielle ‘Dell’ Louise Easey is laid to rest at a funeral service held at Ryhope Memorial Park
Ms Easey’s sister Tahnee told the crowd she was still ‘speechless’ over the sudden loss of her beloved sibling.
‘There aren’t enough words in the world for you,’ she said.
‘You were my soulmate and my best friend. You were a sensational mother, not only to your children but to everyone around you.
‘I could talk for hours about you, but everyone here already knows what kind of person you were.
‘You were one truly amazing person. I’ll cherish every moment spent with you.
‘You never failed to make me laugh and you never failed to show me unconditional love.’