Man charged with killing Sydney journalist
A MAN has been charged with murdering a freelance journalist outside a hotel in Sydney's inner west 13 years ago.Jennifer Maree Smith was discovered alone and unconscious in a lane alongside the Coopers Arms Hotel in Hordern Street, Newtown, at 6am (AEDT) on January 17, 1998.
The 32-year-old from Elizabeth Bay, in Sydney's eastern suburbs, died a short time later of severe head injuries.
Initial attempts to identify Ms Smith were hampered because she was not carrying any property, jewellery or other means of identification.
Police appeals for anyone who may have heard fighting or screams in the alley in the hours before her death also came to nothing.
A strike force was formed in 2010 following a coronial inquest into her death and today, following an extensive 12-month investigation, a car was stopped by detectives on Ross Street at Forest Lodge about 9.20am (AEST).
A 52-year-old man was subsequently charged with murder, manslaughter, robbery and possess small quantity of prohibited drug.
Ms Smith had lived in Elizabeth Bay for five years and was a freelance journalist for various publications.
On the night of the attack, she had been out with friends at nightclubs in Newtown and then Kings Cross, before returning to Newtown.
It was believed she had caught a taxi to Newtown and was in "good spirits" all night.
A post mortem revealed her skull was fractured by a blow from a blunt object.
Her alleged offender was refused bail to appear at Newtown Local Court on May 3.
JENNIFER MAREE SMITH
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