The UK government has provided ACT authorities with what a prosecutor has described as "crucial evidence" in the case against a woman accused of plotting to kill her "prominent Canberran" parents.
The provision of that information is set to clear the way for the 27-year-old woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, to stand trial on six charges. The allegations include two counts of attempted murder.
The woman, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges, has been the subject of protracted proceedings in the ACT Magistrates Court since December 2020.
She was arrested and charged that month, having allegedly burgled her parents' Canberra home in September 2020 and used her mother's laptop to transfer herself money without authorisation.
She is subsequently said to have purchased Bitcoin and created an account on a dark web site called "The Sinaloa Cartel Marketplace", which advertised services that included "accidental murder".
The woman allegedly agreed to pay $20,000 for the murders of her parents, writing "death by accident if at all possible", before sending a site administrator called "Juan" more than $6000 worth of Bitcoin.
According to police, she stood to inherit more than $2.5 million if both her parents, previously described in court as "prominent Canberrans", died.
Investigators believe the marketplace was a scam, however, and the woman's parents were never harmed.
The woman has been freed from custody multiple times to await trial but she is currently back behind bars on remand, having most recently had her bail revoked last December.
One of the major reasons for the delay in her case has been the slow progress of "mutual assistance requests", which involve one government asking another for help with criminal investigations and prosecutions.
The court has previously heard that in this case, requests had been sent to the UK and the US in order to obtain evidence that included details of cryptocurrency transactions allegedly made by the woman.
On Tuesday, Crown prosecutor Keegan Lee told the court "crucial evidence" had recently arrived from the UK.
He said this had been disclosed to Legal Aid defence lawyer Jan de Bruin last week and, while material from the US remained outstanding, the matter would likely be ready for committal for trial in two weeks.
Dr de Bruin, who said he needed the next fortnight to review the new material and take instructions from the accused, agreed the case should be ready to head to the ACT Supreme Court on the next occasion.
Magistrate Glenn Theakston accordingly granted a two-week adjournment, remanding the accused woman in custody until the likely committal for trial on May 10.
