‘Got away with murder’: Man faces trial over 2014 death of girlfriend

A man accused of killing his partner told a new girlfriend he felt guilty of the death after having gone into a violent rage, smashing her head into the ground or a wall over claims she had slept with a teenage neighbour, a court has heard.

Kirra-Lea McLoughlin, 27, died in July 2014 after an argument with her partner Paul Alan McDonald, who is accused of manslaughter.

For much of McDonald’s first day of trial in the Supreme Court in Brisbane on Wednesday, he sat looking down, at times shaking his head slightly at some of the evidence being heard.

In the hours before McLoughlin died in her Wolvi home, near Gympie, north of Brisbane, there had been a physical fight between her and McDonald’s sister after things had escalated following discussions about McLoughlin’s relationship with a 17-year-old neighbour, the court heard.

Key evidence in the prosecution case is that four years after McLoughlin’s death, McDonald had spoken with a new girlfriend, Jade Vandenberg, about the night of McLoughlin’s death.

She told police McDonald had claimed he felt guilty for letting his sister feel responsible for McLoughlin’s death.

Crown Prosecutor David Nardone told the court McDonald had confided in Vandenberg, who has since died, about him going into a violent rage before grabbing McLoughlin by the shoulders.

“He told Ms Vandenberg that he was upset with [McLoughlin] for having had sex with the neighbour, that he became violent, banging and shaking her head into the floor or a wall,” Nardone said.

Ms Vandenberg said in a message to McDonald’s sister the accused said he “kept smashing her head into the floor and panicked when she wouldn’t wake up and tried putting her in the shower”, the court heard.

Years later, in a phone call with his mother discussing his conversations with Vandenberg, McDonald said he feared she would dob him in, Nardone said.

McDonald had told the new girlfriend that night he had ended up “sorting it out” with McLoughlin and the pair had had sex that night, the court heard.

“She described himself as having got away with murder,” Nardone said.

He told his mother it was Vandenberg’s word against his, and he had done “nothing wrong”, the court heard.

That night neighbours reported hearing yelling and banging from the home, Nardone said.

McDonald’s sister, Tamiqua McDonald, testified that she had heard the pair talking about how McLoughlin had a relationship with the 17-year-old neighbour, and that McDonald wanted a lie detector test.

She said her brother and McLoughlin got into an argument, with McLoughlin hitting her brother in the face.

McLoughlin threw a glass at the back of Tamiqua’s head after she intervened in the altercation, she told the court. She then punched McLoughlin in the face, causing her to fall.

“She was just yelling she was going to kill me,” she said.

The court heard McDonald was trying to defuse the situation when McLoughlin had grabbed a baseball bat and went to swing at him.

Tamiqua intervened, throwing the bat off the veranda.

Another member of the family also intervened, throwing red paint, causing both McDonald and McLoughlin to slip. Several people left the property, with McLoughlin staying at the house.

Later that evening about 11pm, she could be heard yelling in the background of one of McDonald’s calls.

At 2.46am the following morning, a call was made from the house to 13HEALTH, which appeared to be a hang-up call. Another call was also made to another health line for 36 seconds, but the content of the calls were not known, the court heard.

The following day, July 17, 2014, about 1pm, McDonald phoned his brother telling him McLoughlin was unresponsive. The brother advised calling 13HEALTH.

At 2.06pm, McDonald called the health line, explaining that McLoughlin had taken more than 20 pills.

McDonald called triple zero, and McLoughlin was rushed to hospital, where medical teams found she had more than 100 bruises, and a spongy area on her scalp.

She was airlifted to the Gold Coast for treatment, where it was determined she had suffered a severe brain injury.  Medical tests did not show signs of an overdose.

McLoughlin died the following day on July 18.

The judge-alone trial before Justice Peter Davis continues.

Cloe Read is the crime and court reporter at Brisbane Times.Connect via X or email.