The man who paid $100k to free accused ‘honey trap’ blonde in Castle Hill death plunge and offered her a place to live – while her murder co-accused boyfriend remains behind bars
A woman charged with murdering a man who fell from a balcony after she allegedly lured him to the flats with nude photos has been granted bail after a male friend put up $100,000 for her release – while her co-accused boyfriend remains in custody.
Jade McCaskie, 34, had been in custody since her arrest following claims she hid in a bin room as Nathan Hill fell from the fourth-floor apartment where she had allegedly enticed him for a 2am drug deal.
Wearing prison greens, her platinum blonde hair grown out to dark roots during nearly three months behind bars, McCaskie appeared anxious and flushed as the judge considered her release.
Nathan Hill fell 15 metres to his death in the early hours of Sunday, 17 May, in what police allege was a desperate attempt to escape a violent attack by three men – including McCaskie’s boyfriend – in Sydney’s north-west.
McCaskie appeared via video link on Friday from the state’s largest jail near Grafton, while her benefactor, Henry Go, sat in the NSW Supreme Court, pledging $100,000 as surety for her strictly conditional release.
Justice Julia Lonergan heard that McCaskie allegedly texted the men – all now her murder co-accused – who fled the Crane Road, Castle Hill, property with their faces buried in hoodies and their tattoos covered to avoid CCTV.
Tucked behind a red bin in the downstairs refuse room, where the admitted drug addict was ‘taking things out to sell’, McCaskie allegedly texted orders about Nathan Hill, saying ‘get his phone’, ‘take his phone’ and ‘he’s talking s**t’.
A previous court heard that police facts in the case state CCTV and phone intercepts allegedly showed ‘McCaskie had knowledge of the plan to rob the victim [Hill] of drugs and steal his car’.
Murder-accused Jade McCaskie (pictured) will walk free on strict bail after a man posted $100,000 surety and she agreed to attend rehab. McCaskie appeared in court in prison greens, her platinum blonde hair grown out to dark roots after months behind bars
McCaskie, who has been in custody for almost three months since her arrest (above), has won bail after agreeing to attend a strict drug rehab program and comply with substance testing
Nathan Hill (pictured) fell to his death from the fourth-floor balcony of a Castle Hill apartment after allegedly being lured there with nude photos by 34-year-old McCaskie
McCaskie ‘was in a relationship with one of her three co-accused… and played a role of luring [Hill]… to 23-25 Crane Road, Castle Hill. And… is alleged to have sent him nude photographs.’
Hill drove his car to the Castle Hill apartment on the Sunday morning in question and could be seen on CCTV ‘holding a small satchel in both hands that may be a prohibited drug,’ Justice Lonergan said.
Crown prosecutors claimed that ‘a joint criminal enterprise’ between the three men and McCaskie ‘led to the death’ of Hill, who was found in the garden below the balcony suffering serious injuries.
He told paramedics before dying on the ground that ‘he was being bashed… they were going to bash me and I jumped to get away’.
But McCaskie’s lawyer, Paul Coady SC, argued that the prosecution case against McCaskie was ‘weak’ and that she had expected to have Hill ‘drive her back to Rose Bay’ with her bags of clothes.
Text messages tendered to the court had her saying: ‘I’m here but with Todd, can you give us a lift,’ to which Hill texted back, ‘Yeah.’
‘If there was a joint criminal enterprise… to wound, injure or hurt, it was very quickly come upon because even in the minutes before the deceased arrived, the plan was to get a lift back to Rose Bay,’ Mr Coady said.
He said the three co-accused, which included McCaskie’s then-boyfriend, Todd, had left her inside the apartment block while they took off without telling her what had occurred.
A Supreme Court judge granted Jade McCaskie (above) strict bail, requiring her to attend a drug rehab program and undergo testing while on release for a murder charge
Nathan Hill was allegedly lured to these Crane Road, Castle Hill apartments for drugs and partying, but fell to his death after allegedly being attacked by three men
Jade McCaskie (above, being arrested in May), must live at Henry Go’s residence and attend a strict rehabilitation program, Reset My Future, to address her drug dependence
‘The Crown case is that [McCaskie]… was effectively the lure for the deceased to attend the premises… the arrangement between [them was] a general agreement for purchasing drugs and partying,’ Justice Lonergan said.
But once Hill had jumped off the balcony while allegedly under attack and the men departed, they left McCaskie ‘behind without communication about what has occurred’.
Justice Lonergan agreed with McCaskie’s lawyer that the case against her for joint criminal enterprise murder was weak and, although she might be charged with another offence, the case would take 18 months to two years to reach a jury.
She accepted the proposed bail conditions that McCaskie live at Go’s residence and attend a strict rehabilitation program, Reset My Future, to address her drug dependence.
Todd David Ryan, 38, and Viet Phong Pham, 30, are also charged with Hill’s murder but have not applied for bail
She also ordered McCaskie not to drink alcohol or take drugs and to comply with the rehab program’s twice-weekly ‘biological monitoring’ and clinical Zoom sessions for three months.
Todd David Ryan, 38, and Viet Phong Pham, 30, are also charged with Hill’s murder but have not applied for bail.
Inquiries into the incident are continuing under NSW Police Strike Force Sunbach.
Jade McCaskie is being released from Clarence Correctional Centre in the NSW Northern Rivers district and will live in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs while on bail.
