The wife of one of two plumbers accused of beating a career criminal to death during a citizen's arrest has been charged with hiding the baseball bats allegedly used in the fatal assault. Sandi Dawn Williams, 43, faces a charge of hindering the discovery of evidence regarding a serious indictable offense.
Court documents allege Williams removed the baseball bats used in the "unlawful and dangerous act resulting in the death of Vaughn Cumming," also known as Vaughn Scott Cummings. The incident occurred in the early hours of April 8 in Bray Park, Murwillumbah, on the NSW Northern Rivers, after reports of a man acting suspiciously.
Police found Vaughn Scott Cumming, 35, on the footpath suffering serious injuries after being detained by neighbors Luke Michael Manning, 31, and Michael Henry Harding, 42. Cumming, who was reportedly a serial home invader with a dozen warrants for his arrest, died in Gold Coast University Hospital two days later.
Manning, a Tweed Shire Council plumber, and Harding, a plumbing contractor, allegedly confronted Cumming after he was seen lurking outside their neighboring homes on Bellevue Avenue at approximately 4:30 a.m. They are alleged to have then beaten him with baseball bats.
Manning and Harding were charged with manslaughter earlier this month. Cumming had a lengthy police record dating back to 2014, with charges including car theft, false number plates, entering a building with intent to commit an indictable offense, domestic violence orders, and multiple driving offenses. He had reportedly been on the run from police for months.
Williams, Manning, and Harding appeared in Tweed Heads Local Court on Monday and remain on bail. They are required to report to police weekly until their next court appearance on September 18.