Man cleared of Kristi McDougall murder

20 Jul 2012, 6:24 pm   -   Source: AAP

A man has been acquitted of murdering drug dealer Kristi McDougall, whose headless, dismembered torso was found in a western Sydney reserve.

The truth of how Sydney woman Kristi McDougall met her death may never be known, after the man accused of choking her, submerging her head in water and chopping up her body with a hacksaw was found not guilty of her murder.

Robert Thomas Best, 49, was on Friday cleared of murdering Ms McDougall, 31, an ice dealer, after four days of deliberations by a NSW Supreme Court jury.

Mr Best had pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms McDougall in front of his girlfriend at his Dundas apartment in Sydney's west on June 19, 2010.

Her torso was discovered in a Doonside reserve in western Sydney seven weeks later, but her head, arms and legs have never been recovered.

The crown prosecution relied primarily on the evidence of Mr Best's former lover Debbra Hogden, who was a key witness in the five-week trial, but her version of events was dismissed by the defence as "fanciful" and "illogical".

The jury was told Hogden had pleaded guilty to being an accessory to Ms McDougall's murder after the fact and had been placed on a good-behaviour bond.

Hogden told the court Mr Best attacked Ms McDougall when she came to his apartment to supply him with the drug ice and that she watched as he choked Ms McDougall with a rope and stuck her head in a bucket of water.

The crown alleged Mr Best later chopped up Ms McDougall's body with a hacksaw and dumped the parts in various locations around Sydney.

But defence barrister Philip Young SC said Hogden received a reduction in her sentence for testifying against her former lover and she had clearly told lies in her evidence.

He said Ms McDougall had been engaged in the "occupational hazards" of drug dealing, including a $20,000 deal on the day she disappeared, and he urged the jury to consider alternative ways she could have died.

"In deciding whether you can accept Ms Hogden is a reliable and accurate witness, you need to look at her honesty and accuracy," Mr Young said in his closing submissions to the jury.

The jury found Mr Best not guilty of murder and not guilty of the alternative charge of manslaughter.

Ms McDougall's father, Don McDougall, who sat through the five-week trial, appeared shocked when the verdict was handed down and declined to comment outside court.

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