Murder accused Michael O'Connell remarks 'perfect' when committed to trial

Michael O’Connell, 42, is in custody, charged with murder. Photo: Michelle Kroll.

A man accused of murdering his partner on Easter Friday 2022 remarked “perfect” when told he would be committed to the Territory’s higher court for a trial.

Michael O’Connell is charged with murdering 40-year-old Danielle Patricia Jordan, a person he previously described as “the love of [his] life” when pleading not guilty.

In September, the ACT Magistrates Court heard the speed he was driving when she allegedly fell off his car in Melba and later died would be a crucial factor in the murder case against him.

Mr O’Connell appeared in court again over the phone from the Alexander Maconochie Centre on Tuesday (11 October). The court heard the matter was ready to be committed to the Supreme Court for trial.

“You are now committed,” Special Magistrate Margaret Hunter told him, adding she would give his lawyers an alibi notice.

“No dramas, thank you, your honour,” he replied over the phone.

He remains in custody and his case will first appear before the higher court’s registrar’s list on 20 October to begin organising a date for trial.

Facts originally tendered to the court before the murder charge was laid allege Mr O’Connell got into an argument with Ms Jordan, also known as Danielle Fleming, at a home in Melba early in the morning of 15 April 2022.

The couple went outside and Mr O’Connell allegedly got into the driver’s seat of a Mitsubishi Triton parked in the driveway while Ms Jordan sat on its bonnet.

He allegedly started driving off while she was still sitting on the car despite a friend of hers, who had also been at the home, walking in front of it to make him stop.

Ms Jordan allegedly held onto the bonnet as he drove off, accelerating out of the friend’s sight.

“A short time later, [the friend] heard a loud screech of tyres, then a loud thump, which she later described as ‘sounding like something heavy, like a body, hitting the road’,” police allege in the documents.

She ran towards the noise and allegedly saw Ms Jordan lying on the ground in a pool of blood, near the intersection of Alfred Hill Drive and Cade Place, with the Triton stopped nearby.

Police said Ms Jordan died overnight while in hospital.