By Erin Pearson, Matilda Boseley & Joe Hinchliffe The Age
The man accused of killing
21-year-old international student Aiia Maasarwe has fronted court charged with
her murder.
Codey Herrmann, 20, sat silent
during the brief hearing at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Saturday afternoon, dressed
in a green T-shirt, following his arrest on Friday.
Codey
Herrmann
The court heard the aspiring rapper had also been charged with
rape. Particulars of the rape charge have not been released, with the
court told some of the "specific words" aren't yet known to the
family.
A mental health assessment was requested for Mr
Herrmann. He made no bail application and was remanded to reappear on
Monday.
When magistrate John Doherty asked
Mr Herrmann if he knew what he had been charged with, he replied
“yes”. “It’s alleged you murdered Aiia Maasarwe and it's alleged you raped
that person,” Mr Doherty said.
Liaison officers had earlier tried to prevent Mr Herrmann from
being brought up from the cells to the courtroom for the hearing, but Mr
Doherty intervened and requested the accused appear.
When he entered the court, Mr Herrmann sat with
his head bowed and avoided eye contact with those sitting in the mostly empty
room.
On either side of him sat security officers, with no friends or
family attending the hearing.
Mr Herrmann, a self-described rapper who went by the name MC
Codez, was arrested by police at a park in Greensborough on Friday, two days
after Ms Maasarwe was found near a Bundoora shopping centre.
At the same time, homicide detectives
and forensics police descended on a derelict, weatherboard house on Grimshaw
Street, Bundoora.
Ms Maasarwe was on her way home from
a gig at The Comics Lounge in North Melbourne and was speaking to her sister on
her phone via FaceTime when she was allegedly attacked.
Ms Maasarwe's death has rocked
Melbourne, where thousands have taken to the streets as well as social media to
express outrage and grief over yet another unprovoked killing of a young woman
who was simply going about her life.
Her father Saeed Maasarwe spoke at a
vigil at Parliament House on Friday night, thanking the more than 1000 people
who attended, while hundreds took part in an emotional journey on the 86 tram,
filling it with flowers and tributes.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison
met Mr Maasarwe on Saturday afternoon.
“The words will fail me I’m sure, as
one father to another,” Mr Morrison said at an earlier press conference.
Accompanied by his wife and two
daughters, Mr Morrison laid flowers on Saturday at the site where Aiia was
found.
“I want to thank those other
families and other Australians who have just been quietly passing by and paying
their respects, and laying down flowers, leaving cards,” he said.
“I had the chance to read some those
messages and talk to them. It was very quiet, and I think that the country is
very shaken by it, but at the same time as always reaches out and seeks to
comfort."
Tom Meagher, whose wife Jill Meagher was
murdered in Brunswick six years ago, has taken to Twitter to pay his
respects to Aiia and her family.
“RIP Aiia & love to her family.”
Ms Meagher was raped and killed by
Adrian Bayley while walking home from a night out in September 2012.
Mr Meagher has since been an active advocate for
women’s rights and safety.
No comments:
Post a Comment