Brett Peter Cowan, 44, appeared in Brisbane Supreme Court this morning. He appeared calm and relaxed as he formally entered a plea of “not guilty” to charges of murder, indecent treatment of a child under 16 and unlawfully interfering with a corpse.
Daniel’s parents Bruce and Denise, twin Bradley and older brother Dean were in court to hear Cowan’s plea but left shortly afterwards, barely holding back tears.
The family were met by a large media contingent outside the court and Bruce stopped to thank everyone who has helped investigate Daniel’s murder.
“Ten years, two months and three days we find ourselves here, so it’s been a long grind,” he said.
“But we certainly thank the media, police, the SES and the community for getting us to this point and we’ll see what the next few weeks unfold.”
The first day of the trial was devoted to empanelling the 12 jurors and three reserve jurors. The first of the evidence is not expected to be heard until tomorrow.
Daniel was 13 years old when he disappeared from a Sunshine Coast bus stop on his way to buy Christmas presents for his family.
In August 2011, Cowan – a father of three – was charged with his abduction and murder and eight days later, Daniel’s remains were uncovered.
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