A South Australian court has lifted the suppression order on a person accused of murdering three people, including a Mount Gambier man.
Justice Anne Bampton today lifted the legal secrecy order barring the identification of Steven Leslie Hainsworth, following an application by Channel 7.
Mr Hainsworth was charged with murdering Mount Gambier invalid pensioner Stephen Newton (pictured) in 2011.
Mr Newton’s body was found inside his home in late November 2011, with forensic scientists investigating the scene and deducing that from the state of his body, he’d most likely been murdered six to eight days earlier.
Mr Hainsworth has also been charged with murdering two women in Adelaide in 1998 and 2010. Police have alleged he murdered Phyllis Harrison in 1998 and his aunt Beverley Hanley in 2010.
The matters have been before the courts since 2019, however the suppression order prevented the media from reporting the publication of Mr Hainsworth’s name or any identifying details.
Mr Hainsworth was charged in late 2019 with murdering Mr Newton in 2011.
It has been alleged that the pair were associates at the time, with police reporting that items allegedly stolen from Mr Newton’s home were recovered at pawn shops.
Mr Hainsworth has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is due to stand trial for all three murders, in the absence of a jury, in the Supreme Court in August.
