Kellyâs accused killer wakes from coma The man accused of the horrific attack on mother Kelly Wilkinson has emerged from a coma.
Crime by Jeremy Pierce
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Subscriber only The man accused of burning his estranged wife alive on the Gold Coast has emerged from a coma more than a week after the tragedy. Brian Earl Johnston allegedly doused Kelly Wilkinson, 27, in petrol and set her alight at an Arundel home last Tuesday. Kelly Wilkinson was found dead in the back yard of her Gold Coast home. Picture: Facebook Johnston was arrested in a nearby street also suffering significant burns and was rushed to hospital.
03:47 EDT, 30 April 2021
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The accused killer of mother-of-three Kelly Wilkinson has been charged with her murder after spending 10 days in an induced coma.
Brian Earl Johnston, 34, was visited by officers in the Royal Brisbane and Women s Hospital on Friday where he was under police guard.
Johnston s lawyer Chris Hannay confirmed police had formally charged his client with the murder of Wilkinson, 27.
Hannay instructed his client, who was heavily medicated, to decline to be formally interviewed.
The body of Gold Coast mother of three Kelly Wilkinson was discovered in a home on the Gold Coast on April 20
Police charged Ms Wilkinson s estranged husband Brian Johnston (pictured) with her murder on Friday
04:33 EDT, 29 April 2021
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Ms Wilkinson s (left) estranged ex-husband Brian Johnston (right) has been charged with her murder after allegedly setting her on fire on April 20
A post-mortem examination has revealed a mother-of-three died from horrific burns she suffered after her US marine ex-husband allegedly doused her in petrol and set her on fire.
Brian Earl Johnston, 34, a former US military corporal, has been charged with his ex-wife Kelly Wilkinson s murder after allegedly setting fire to her at her home in Arundel on the Gold Coast on April 20.
Johnston was found nearby suffering from burn injuries and taken to the Royal Brisbane Women s Hospital - where he remains in an induced coma.
Brian Earl Johnston is facing murder and other charges after Wilkinson, 27, died in the backyard of her home in Arundel last Wednesday.
Queensland police have announced an internal review into events that led to her death, to be led by assistant commissioner Brian Codd.
“I think the system has obviously failed to protect Kelly Wilkinson and her family, and it is vitally important that we explore just how that’s occurred,” Codd told ABC radio on Monday morning.
The state has also established a women’s safety and justice taskforce which is due to make its report in October.
“Twenty-eight people were killed last year in Queensland alone in domestic and family violence, and unfortunately that seems to be the case most years . We’re still not making the dent in it that we want to,” Codd said.