Veteran arrested for allegedly spying on his ex-wife

Following his second arrest, the man reapplied for bail on Friday May 17 and applied for bail at the Townsville Magistrates Court.

It is alleged the man – who cannot be named to avoid identifying the alleged victim – worked with a neighbor to set up cameras and monitor his ex-wife while she lived in a matrimonial property.

Defense lawyer Harvey Walters said his client had been keeping an eye on the house because he was upset that it might be sold.

At the time, the man was on bail for raping and strangling his ex-wife and had strict instructions not to hire her.

It is believed the man, a veteran, worked with a neighbor to install cameras on the neighbor’s property to monitor the ex-wife’s comings and goings.

This allegedly included collectively noting the license plates of the cars that visited her address, taking photos of her through the windows and driving past the house and attempting to reach the WiFi network.

The alleged crime was uncovered in April 2024 when the woman said she noticed she was being watched in her front yard.

When police officers executed a search warrant on the neighbor’s property, they allegedly found evidence that the woman was being spied on from at least August 2023 to January 2024.

Police say evidence collected includes images of the woman in her home, screenshots of CCTV footage, surveillance of cars and visitors in the home, and a text message conversation between the neighbor and ex-husband.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Tim Madsen read out a small portion of the alleged conversation in court.

Neighbor: Hey, are the cameras back online?

Ex-husband: No, buddy, they’ve been gone since yesterday morning

Neighbor: Because (the ex-wife’s) car has been in the house since I arrived yesterday and the lights were on last night. Does your internet have a name because I’m going to come over later today and see if I can find it by searching “Wi-Fi”?

Ex-husband: Hey, did you see anything on your cameras?

Neighbor: I took a look at it over the weekend, but I’ll check today. I saw (a man) mowing your lawn.

Ex-husband: how good are your eyes? Did you get the license plate?

Neighbor: On the white car that’s parked there now?

Ex-husband: Yes buddy, please

According to the public prosecutor’s office, the neighbor then provided the license plate of the visiting car.

The neighbor has also been charged and will appear in court separately.

Sergeant Marsden told the court the dates of the spying period meant the ex-husband began monitoring his ex-wife just days after he was released on bail in the Supreme Court on rape and strangulation charges.

“This is extremely serious,” Sergeant Marsden said of the situation.

“He appears to have found an alleged loophole (in the bail conditions).”

Judge Steven Mosch asked for more information about the alleged stalking period, but police files on the court computer contained little evidence.

Sergeant Marsden said a full evidence report was being delayed as officers waited for Telstra to release the records.

Judge Mosch denied the man bail and sent him to custody, where he will remain behind bars while he waits for his case to be presented to a judge.