Woman and girl killed over alleged internet affair

(September 2003) -- A man bashed his wife and his 14-year-old stepdaughter to death with an iron bar in an attack triggered by an alleged internet affair, a Darwin court heard yesterday.

John Allen Angeles, 68, allegedly went to the apartment of his 35-year-old estranged wife Edna Angeles in the Darwin suburb of Nightcliff on March 1 this year, and later beat her over the head with an iron bar.

He then went to the room of her daughter, Zsa Zsa Vergara, and "viciously" beat her with the bar while she was sleeping, the Supreme Court heard.

Angeles had kicked his wife and her daughter out of his house on Christmas Eve last year because he believed she was having an affair with a man she had met over the internet, the court heard.

Prosecutor Therese Austin said Angeles later told police this alleged affair was "the trigger for committing this offence".

"He then cleaned the flat up because he didn't like things being messy," Ms Austin said.

In applying for bail, defence lawyer Louise Bennett said Angeles had been in custody since his arrest in March, and given his "ripe age", would likely spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted.

"It's quite clear the prospects of release would be quite slim," she said. "There are things that he would like to tend to."

She said Angeles had never been in a court before this alleged offence, had strong support from his close-knit family and was willing to abide by the strictest of bail conditions, such as reporting to police twice a day, if granted bail.

But Justice Brian Martin denied the bail application, and Angeles was remanded in custody awaiting his trial, which was expected to be in the Northern Territory Supreme Court in February 2004.