SKULL BONES were found at the bottom of a waterfall last month and DNA testing has revealed it's "highly probable" they belong to a man allegedly murdered in Bingara more than a decade ago.
On Monday afternoon, the NSW Supreme Court trial of Bruce Anthony Coss was sensationally adjourned in Sydney after new evidence came to light from the Crown.
Coss is standing trial for the murder of Darren Royce Willis in December 2010. The trial only resumed on Monday morning after a month-long delay.
The court heard fragments of bone - including parts of a skull and jawbone - were discovered after an elderly man searched a remote area on his property at the base of a waterfall.
He was prompted to check the area by media reports about the trial, and took his discovery to Bingara Police Station. As a consequence, police have searched the area, and the fragments were sent for forensic analysis.
After hearing the new evidence, Justice Hament Dhanji said he had no option but to delay the trial due to the significance it could hold.
The trial was adjourned until at least November as investigations continue.
"DNA testing has been undertaken in relation to the bone fragments," Justice Dhanji said on Monday afternoon.
"The result of that testing establishes that the DNA belonging to the bone fragments is consistent with the DNA of Darren Willis ... the alleged victim in the trial."
Mr Willis was reported missing from Bingara in early 2011 and his body had not been found at the time the trial started at the end of May this year.
Coss was arrested in October 2019 after the investigation was renewed.
He has denied murdering his neighbour, 45-year-old Mr Willis, with a baseball bat in December 2010.
More to come.
