Counsel for Shane Andrew Bond also explained a separate conversation in which Mr Bond said Membrey's throat had been cut and her body would never be found, saying a witness would testify that another suspect in the case claimed to have been told as much by police.

In outlining aspects of Mr Bond's defence, Michael O'Connell SC urged Victorian Supreme Court jury to consider whether the testimony of important witnesses in the prosecution case had been influenced by rumour and gossip, alcohol, having an axe to grind against Mr Bond or a $1 million reward offered by police 12 years after Membrey's disappearance.

He said one witness who recounted the conversation about Membrey hitting her head on a coffee table "had an axe to grind with Mr Bond - a rather big axe."

Mr O'Connell read from the initial police interview of Mr Bond, two weeks after Membrey was last seen alive, in which the investigating detective remarked that he looked nothing like the identikit picture prepared by a witness who saw Ms Membrey arguing with a man on the day she disappeared.

He questioned the reliability of the Crown case, saying "the bulk of the evidence" against Mr Bond was from people recounting "some years after the event what happened some years before that."

"The evidence will not tell the prosecution story at all," Mr O'Connell said.

Mr Bond has pleaded not guilty to murdering Membrey, a 22-year-old aspiring journalist who worked part-time at the Manhattan Hotel in the Melbourne suburb of Ringwood, on December 6, 1994.

The jury has been told that police identified other "persons of interest" in the case and to convict Mr Bond, they must be certain no other suspect could have killed Membrey.

Mr O'Connell said he would cross examine these alternate suspects, and urged the jury to scrutinise their evidence carefully. He said it wasn't up to Mr Bond to prove he didn't murder Membrey, or that someone else did.

"In short... Mr Bond is entitled to the presumption of innocence," he said.

The jury has heard how Mr Bond told an acquaintance in 2010 that Membrey's throat had been slashed in the hallway of her Ringwood unit. Mr O'Connell said a witness would be called to testify that he heard another suspect in the case - who cannot be named for legal reasons - earlier telling the same thing to a group of people.

Asked how he knew this, the other suspect replied that police had told him oxygen levels detected in traces of blood found on the hallway walls suggested the blood had come from Membrey's throat.

The defence would also lead evidence to show that another part of the prosecution case - Mr Bond returning to his home on the morning after Membrey's death - never happened and could not have happened.

In a second police interview conducted in 2008, Mr Bond's manner and responses were "absolutely consistent with his innocence," Mr O'Connell said.

The 15-person jury is today visiting the Ringwood unit where Membrey lived at the time of her disappearance. Prosecutor Geoff Horgan SC has said it is not known whether Membrey was killed at the unit or whether she was attacked there and died elsewhere. Her body has never been found.

The trial before Justice Terry Forrest continues.

The former housemate of accused man Shane Andrew Bond told a Supreme Court jury today that he was awoken by a slamming door and went to Mr Bond’s room to find him covered in blood.

Mr Bond had blood on his face, arms, hands, shirt, shorts, legs and shoes, the jury was told.

The former housemate, who cannot be named, said he asked Mr Bond if he'd been beaten up.

He said Mr Bond told him that he'd bitten his tongue during an epileptic fit.

The former housemate said that, in his opinion, there was too much blood to have come from a wound caused by someone biting their tongue.

He said he did not see any injuries on Mr Bond.

The former housemate said Mr Bond told him the next morning that he might have been "in a bit of trouble" over the "Elisabeth Membrey thing".

That night he said he saw a television news report about the Membrey case while at the pub.

Mr Bond, 45, has pleaded not guilty to murder.

The trial, before Justice Terry Forrest, continues.

 

The jury this morning found Bond not guilty of murder and manslaughter.

Bond, 45, of Launching Place, denied murdering the 22-year-old at her Ringwood East unit in 1994.

As the verdict was delivered, Ms Membrey's mother Joy, who has waited nearly two decades for answers to their daughter's disappearance, appeared to wipe away tears.

This morning Bond stayed impassive as the verdicts were delivered but broke down in the docks after jurors left the courtroom.

The verdict came after seven days of deliberation by the jury.

Mr Bond was one of several suspects in the cold case murder investigation.

A former workmate of Ms Membrey's had been the prime suspect for a number of years until 2005.

In 2006 new information led police to look at Mr Bond.

Blood stains in Ms Membrey's flat and a missing doona were among the few pieces of evidence about her disappearance.

Defence barrister Michael O'Connell SC told jurors there was no physical evidence against Mr Bond and they would not be satisfied of his guilt.

Prosecutors had also failed to exclude the possibility that someone else had killed her, he said.

"The fact is, very little is known about what happened to Elisabeth Membrey in the unit on that night," Mr O'Connell said.

"Virtually nothing is known about how she died or indeed why she died.

"In those circumstances it is simply not possible to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt of the guilt of the accused."

The case against Mr Bond was based on the testimony of several witnesses who he made alleged confessions to and a former housemate who said Mr Bond came home covered in blood on the night Ms Membrey disappeared.

Other witnesses alleged they had seen Ms Membrey arguing with a man believed to be Mr Bond on the day she disappeared.

In his closing address in the Victorian Supreme Court trial, prosecutor Geoff Horgan SC urged jurors to accept the evidence of a witness who said that Mr Bond was interested in Ms Membrey but she was not interested in him, and he had been rejected by her.

Mr Horgan said previous police investigations into the case that looked at other suspects were flawed.

Ms Membrey was last seen leaving the Manhattan Hotel in Ringwood in Melbourne's east, where she worked as bartender, on December 6, 1994.

Her body has never been found.

In evidence given during the trial, father Roger Membrey told the jury of he and his wife's growing concern when they went to their daughter's unit after her disappearance and found blood.

Mr Membrey told the Supreme Court he recalled going to his daughter's Ringwood unit with his wife Joy after phone messages went unanswered on December 7, 1994.

Elisabeth had failed to attend a doctor's appointment that day, the jury was told.

"We were getting a bit concerned because the girls didn't seem to be there, they weren't answering, and the place was in darkness,'' Mr Membrey said.

They managed to get inside the unit.

We were pleased to see that everything was neat and tidy . . . so it all looked very normal, but there was one exception to that, of course,'' he said.

That exception was a pool of dried blood in the hallway. Mr Membrey said he rang 000 and taxi services to see if an ambulance or cabs had been called to the home.

"It was all negative, negative,'' Mr Membrey said.

The grieving parents of cold case murder victim Elisabeth Membrey say the agony of losing their daughter is as profound today as it ever was.

Each day, Roger and Joy Membrey light a candle in honour of their daughter, killed almost 19 years ago.

Their vigil today was particularly heartfelt - it would have been Elisabeth's 41st birthday.

"It's Elisabeth's birthday...she would have been 41 today and we've been robbed of more than half of her life," Roger told 7News reporter Cameron Baud.

The death of Elisabeth Membrey is one of Victoria's most high-profile unsolved murder cases.

On December 6, 1994, Elisabeth, a then 22-year-old part-time bartender, disappeared from her suburban home in Ringwood.

She was last seen leaving work at the Manhattan Hotel.

Her body has never been found.

The Membreys have always been open about their pain and suffering since Elisabeth was killed.

But the couple's life sentence has become more intense over the past 14 months since Shane Bond was found not guilty of murdering their only daughter.

The couple are convinced more than one person was involved in the killing and also suspect that one of the accomplices was a woman.

"It must be a tremendous burden for the person or persons who were involved," Joy said.

"We believe Elisabeth's murder is beyond the capability of one person. We believe there must be people out there with things on their conscience," Roger added.

The case remains an open investigation with the homicide's squad's cold case unit.

A $1m reward is still on offer for information that leads to a conviction.

As the Membrey's quest for answers and closure continues, so too does their pain.

"We can't move through it as people are encouraged to do when they're grieving," Roger said.

"We have no finality and until we get finality, we'll be in limbo."

Joy added: "It's extremely hard to verbalise exactly what it's like, but it's as bad today as it was in the beginning, if not more so because of the length of time."

The Membrey's bitter experience has led them to seek major changes to the court system through an advisory committee to the Attorney General.

"The legal system prevented us actually participating as we felt that we had an obligation to," Roger said.

The couple's burning desire is to provide their daughter with a burial before any more birthdays.

Today, they made yet another impassioned plea to the public for information, no matter how insignificant they feel it might be to the investigation.

"We passionately ask anybody who has information of any strength to pass that on to Crime Stoppers," Roger said.

Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

 

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