Jury hears injury and text-message evidence in Ipswich murder trial

A Queensland Supreme Court jury has heard that a teenager suffered 62 external injuries before her death at her boyfriend's home in Ipswich. Michael Kurt Pringle, now 25, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Krystle Monks at Bundamba on February 4, 2023.

Prosecutors allege Monks was beaten and described her injuries as evidence of violence. The court heard she had bruising around her eyes, cheeks and ears, along with fractures to her nose, cheek and jaw. Pringle maintains that she fell from a bed and struck her head on a dresser.

The jury was shown messages exchanged in the hours before Monks lost consciousness. Her mother said Monks had written that she wanted to come home, but did not reply when asked what was happening. Prosecutors also referred to internet searches about fainting shortly before the emergency call.

Those accounts form part of the evidence and competing arguments at trial, rather than a verdict. The hearing in Brisbane is expected to run for two weeks.