An accused murderer’s case has been pushed back after police successfully sought more time to scour through hundreds of hours of CCTV footage.
Brandon Watts, 27, only spoke during Thursday’s brief Melbourne Magistrates Court hearing to confirm he understood the delays.
He was charged in June with the murder of Joshua Bishop after police found the 23-year-old’s body at a Westmeadows home in Melbourne’s northwest.
Police allege Watts killed Mr Bishop in Westmeadows between May 27 and 28.
The 23-year-old was last seen by a housemate in Sunbury about 9.30pm on May 27 and his mother reported him missing two days later.
The Erinbank Crescent townhouse where his body was discovered was close to where his phone last pinged around Broadmeadows Valley Park.
Detective Acting Sergeant Charles Thompson on Thursday told the court police needed an extra 10 weeks to compile the brief of evidence against Watts.
There was more than 300 hours of CCTV footage to review and 13 seized mobile phones that needed to be analysed, he said.
A statement from Watts’ mother would also be in the brief of evidence, asserting he was the only one using the Westmeadows garage where Mr Bishop’s body was found, the detective said.
Magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz granted the application for extension, giving police until October 6 to serve evidence to the defence.
She said it was clearly in Watts’ best interests to have all of the material disclosed before his next court appearance.
Watts, who was due to face court in September, will return to Melbourne Magistrates Court in November for a committal mention hearing.
He was remanded in custody to his next court date.
Missing persons detectives have previously stated Mr Bishop had no criminal links and his connection to Watts has not been revealed in court.
