This is a part of a much larger article about cases coming up in 2019 in the Newcastle area.
Ms McBride’s boyfriend of about eight weeks, Sayle Kenneth Newson, 41, will face an estimated three-month murder trial in Newcastle Supreme Court on May 20, 2019.
The case against him is entirely circumstantial.
There was no blood found in his vehicle, no witnesses, no CCTV, no DNA and police don't know where the alleged murder occurred.
But what police and prosecutors do have is a pattern of alleged suspicious or bizarre behaviour that they say point to Mr Newson being the man responsible for murdering Ms McBride.
There was the cash reward that police say he could never pay. The "argument" and the deleted Facebook account. The photograph that was allegedly edited for the missing person's poster before Ms McBride was even reported missing.
The public displays of grief and torment, the extensive appeals for information and the social media campaign juxtaposed with claims he had moved on to other women almost immediately.
There were the alleged efforts to interject himself into the police investigation and deflect suspicion onto others, which included two of his associates breaking into a rival's house to search for evidence. The attempts to learn the location that police and the SES would search next, before claiming he couldn't stay and help.
The claims of unusual comments, like telling a police officer early on during the missing person's case that "you're looking for a dead body".
And, perhaps most importantly, there was the information he allegedly knew about the crime scene.
Mr Newson's co-accused, James Anthony Cunneen, now 27, had the murder charge against him dropped last year. In its place, prosecutors laid a charge of accessory after the fact to murder.
Mr Cunneen will also face trial alongside Mr Newson.
Murder and mystery: the big cases coming in 2019
Ms McBride’s boyfriend of about eight weeks, Sayle Kenneth Newson, 41, will face an estimated three-month murder trial in Newcastle Supreme Court on May 20, 2019.
The case against him is entirely circumstantial.
There was no blood found in his vehicle, no witnesses, no CCTV, no DNA and police don't know where the alleged murder occurred.
But what police and prosecutors do have is a pattern of alleged suspicious or bizarre behaviour that they say point to Mr Newson being the man responsible for murdering Ms McBride.
There was the cash reward that police say he could never pay. The "argument" and the deleted Facebook account. The photograph that was allegedly edited for the missing person's poster before Ms McBride was even reported missing.
The public displays of grief and torment, the extensive appeals for information and the social media campaign juxtaposed with claims he had moved on to other women almost immediately.
There were the alleged efforts to interject himself into the police investigation and deflect suspicion onto others, which included two of his associates breaking into a rival's house to search for evidence. The attempts to learn the location that police and the SES would search next, before claiming he couldn't stay and help.
The claims of unusual comments, like telling a police officer early on during the missing person's case that "you're looking for a dead body".
And, perhaps most importantly, there was the information he allegedly knew about the crime scene.
Mr Newson's co-accused, James Anthony Cunneen, now 27, had the murder charge against him dropped last year. In its place, prosecutors laid a charge of accessory after the fact to murder.
Mr Cunneen will also face trial alongside Mr Newson.
Murder and mystery: the big cases coming in 2019
