Homeless man found not guilty of woman's murder
A homeless man has been found not guilty of murdering a woman he met hours earlier.
Scott Kennedy faced trial in the Victorian Supreme Court in Morwell, charged over the death of Narelle Emerson on October 18, 2019.
The 45-year-old former bookkeeper was found at her Morwell home with traumatic injuries to her head and neck, and she died in hospital 20 days later.
Ms Emerson and her partner John Flegg were at the property on October 17 when Kennedy was invited over, the jury was told.
He had not met Ms Emerson or Mr Flegg before, and alcohol and drugs were consumed over the course of the evening.
Ms Emerson and Kennedy were the only two left in her house that night after an argument broke out between her and Mr Flegg.
A neighbour woke in the early hours of October 18 to the sounds of arguing, banging and crashing from Ms Emerson's house.
Mr Flegg returned to Ms Emerson's place about 9am to find items strewn over the hallway and into her bedroom, but he didn't raise the alarm after seeing her lying on the bed under the covers.
He made a cup of tea, watched television and went outside to paint a trailer for two hours, checking on her a few times from afar before finding her unresponsive.
Ms Emerson was later found to have traumatic upper body injuries, with her blood located on the doona, bed frame and bedside table.
Kennedy's lawyer cast doubt over Mr Flegg's account, urging the jury to instead consider Ms Emerson's former partner as the one who killed her.
Mr Flegg died in June 2020 from cancer.
The jury on Friday morning found Kennedy was not responsible for Ms Emerson's death, acquitting him of murder and the alternative charge of manslaughter.
He will walk from court as a free man.
