A man accused of murdering his ex-wife in an accident that left him disabled has been ordered to appear in court.
Troy Armstrong, 35, was charged with murder after his ex-wife Kristy Armstrong, 36, was murdered in Molong, near Orange, in central western New South Wales, on June 9.
He is alleged to have left his car off a country road driving his ute towards his sedan at 140km/h.
Armstrong has also been charged with two counts of attempted murder, relating to his two daughters who were in the back of his car, along with three counts of failing to comply with stopped violence orders.
Troy Armstrong was charged with murder after his ex-wife died in a crash near Orange.
He has not entered a plea and will face an arraignment hearing in July.
Magistrate David Day asked whether Armstrong, who is in Long Bay Prison Hospital, is fit to attend the hearing via audio-visual link.
Solicitor Drew Hamilton told Orange Local Court his client “is fit to appear” during a brief mention on Thursday.
“It takes some work to get it to the AVL suite, but it can appear,” he said.
Day set the hearing date and asked that Armstrong appear free of custody in what will be his first court appearance since he was seriously injured.
Armstrong was airlifted to the intensive care unit at Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital with critical brain and spinal injuries following the crash, where he spent months under 24-hour surveillance.
During an unsuccessful bail application last year, Hamilton told the court that Armstrong posed little risk to the community as part of his skull had been removed and he could no longer walk.
However, police prosecutor Carl Smith described Armstrong as “an extremely dangerous person” and that releasing him would be distressing for his surviving victims.
“(They) were terrified before this incident, and now they are even more terrified,” he said.
“He knew that crashing into a car at 140 km/h was likely to kill his wife, but (also) anyone else in that motor vehicle.”
Armstrong is alleged to have driven his ex-partner’s car off a country road by driving his ute towards her sedan at 140km/h.
Emergency services attended the scene on Speedy Street but were unable to revive Kristy Armstrong (pictured left).
It took a year for the case to reach the processing stage, in part because the cars were sent to the United States for specialized forensic testing.
Armstrong was one of many women remembered at a demonstration against gender violence in Orange last month.
His family and friends have attended every court appearance since Armstrong’s arrest.
His case will return to court on June 11.
