Alleged Salt Creek attacker pleads not guilty in Adelaide court
The man charged over the horrific abduction and attempted murder of two European backpackers at Salt Creek in February has pleaded not guilty to the crimes.
The 60-year-old man from Morphett Vale, South Australia, appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Friday morning via video link with prosecutors adding three new charges.
The new offences bring the total number of charges to seven. One by one, the accused pleaded not guilty to all of them.
A suppression on the man's identity remains, but it has been revealed that a hammer was allegedly used in the assault.
Prosecutors will also allege he tried to run down one of his victims in his four-wheel drive.
The terrifying attack sent shockwaves through the community and beyond and ended with a dramatic arrest in the remote Coorong salt dunes.
Police swooped on the national park after four fishermen raised the alarm.
"She didn’t know what was going on," Abdul-Karim Mohammed told 7 News in February. "She ran straight to the car yelling, opened the back door jumped straight in and was just like, 'get me out of here, get me out of here'."
They had spotted a female backpacker emerge from the dunes naked, crying and bleeding.
A second woman was located soon after, barely conscious.
The women, both aged 23 from Germany and Brazil, suffered serious injuries.
Major crime detectives set up Task Force Coorong and spent hours scouring the remote sand dunes in the days following the incident.
Authorities bagged at least two-dozen pieces of evidence to be checked by a team of forensic experts.
The suspect will face the Supreme Court later this month.
News break – September 2
