In the Brisbane supreme court Andrew Michael Burke pleads not guilty to the 2013 murder of Joan Ryther, and the killing of her unborn child

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A pregnant McDonald’s worker was raped, stomped on and strangled in a vicious murder, a Queensland jury has heard.

Andrew Michael Burke pleaded not guilty to the rape and murder of Joan Ryther on 21 May 2013, as well as killing her unborn child, on the first day of his trial on Monday.

Ryther was attacked that night as she walked to a shift at the Logan Central McDonald’s where she worked, the crown prosecutor, Glen Cash, told the Brisbane supreme court.

The bleeding 27-year-old was then dragged into the front yard of a nearby house.

The crown contended she was raped with an object, probably a screwdriver, leaving her with “massive” injuries before she was probably kicked in the head and strangled, he said.



“She was viciously assaulted,” Cash said. “Her attacker left her to die alone, face down in the grass.”

He said DNA from the back of her jumper was later found to be 100 billion times more likely to belong to Burke than anyone else.

A pair of shoes belonging to Burke were also found to align with marks found on Ryther’s face, with one found to carry traces of her DNA, he said.

The “critical issue” for the jury would be the identity of Ryther’s attacker and whether or not Burke, now 21, was that person, Cash said.

Scientific evidence would also suggest Ryther, who was eight weeks pregnant, suffered bruising on her brain during the attack.

Cash told the court Burke was in the area that night trying to steal a car and had earlier stolen a packet of screwdrivers.

A bandage found in the wheelie bin of a home he later visited tested positive for DNA consistent with Ryther, the court heard.

But his defence barrister, Frank Martin, warned the jury not to be “bamboozled” by the DNA evidence and urged them to consider it carefully.

Ryther’s husband, Cory, was the first witness called by the prosecution and said the walk from the couple’s home to the McDonald’s took about 10 minutes.

He recalled retracing the route from the home to McDonald’s after discovering she had not turned up for her shift.

The trial before judge Debra Mullins continues.