A Warrnambool man charged over the death of his partner in December 2019 will face a plea hearing this year.
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Paul Philip McDonough, 40, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the Supreme Court of Victoria last month, more than three years after 28-year-old mother Bekkie-Rae Curren-Trinca was found with head and spinal injuries.
Ms Curren-Trinca was found by an unknown person in a critical condition at a unit she lived in on Ocean Grove, in Warrnambool's east, on November 27, 2019.
She was airlifted to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where she died on December 4.
McDonough was originally charged by homicide detectives with intentionally causing serious injury and then murder, before that charge was ultimately replaced with manslaughter.
He was scheduled to stand trial on the murder charge in the Supreme Court of Victoria on August 31 but it was postponed after he sacked his lawyers just hours earlier.
The court heard at the time it was the second legal team the accused man had fired.
The trial was then set down for February with a number of witnesses expected to be called, including friends of Ms Curren-Trinca and social workers from Warrnambool domestic violence service provider Emma House.
But Judge Amanda Fox ordered the trial be vacated following McDonough's guilty plea in December.
The man, who has remained in custody since his arrest in 2019, is expected to face a plea hearing in April.
The maximum penalty for the charge of manslaughter is 25 years' jail.
At the time of Ms Curren-Trinca's death she was described by friends on social media as being a loving mother with a bubbly personality.
- Are you affected by this story? Call 1800 RESPECT.
- Emma House is a Warrnambool-based not-for-profit service and can be contacted through 1800 EMMADV
- Lifeline 13 11 14
- with Australian Associated Press
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Jessica Howard
jessica.howard@warrnamboolstandard.com.au
jessica.howard@warrnamboolstandard.com.au
