Accused zoo murderer allegedly found with bloodied knife, rat poison

Jude Luckshan Wijesinghe, 29, was arrested on December 18 last year after allegedly fatally stabbing Tshewang Choden in the kitchen of Jamala Wildlife Lodge.

The man, whom magistrate Ian Temby said was the alleged crime's only suspect, pleaded not guilty to a single charge of murder last month during his first ACT Magistrates Court appearance.

He returned to court on Wednesday, when previously unknown details about the alleged incident were revealed during an application to conduct forensic procedures.

Summarising police allegations against the Sri Lankan national and Oaks Estate resident, Mr Temby said Wijesinghe was captured on the lodge's CCTV footage about midday on the day in question.

Shortly after, it's alleged an employee heard screaming coming from a kitchen storeroom, ran towards the noise but found the door was locked.

That witness allegedly sought help from co-workers to get into the storeroom but, when the group returned, the door was open.

Witnesses are said to have seen a person inside the storeroom holding a knife with what they believed was blood on it. That person's hands allegedly "appeared to be covered in blood".

Numerous witnesses allegedly left the scene but the man who initially ran to the scream claims to have recognised Wijesinghe "as being a chef at the lodge" in the storeroom.

Ms Choden was found dead in the kitchen storeroom by police.

The magistrate said the alleged offender was taken to hospital and police officers searched his home, where they found a "half opened packet of Ratsak", a brand of rodent poison.

Police allege the blue-green substance at the home was similar to one found coming out of the man's mouth and later collected from under his bottom lip during a forensic procedure.

Officers found a plastic water bottle containing blue green liquid suspected of being Ratsak and "large blood staining" in the storeroom.

On Wednesday, Wijesinghe sat through the majority of his court appearance with his head bowed down. He wore casts on each arm and was dressed in a grey polo top, grey tracksuit pants, white socks, and thongs.

The man did not consent to a number of forensic procedures being sought by investigators, including taking fingerprints, buccal swabs (inside the cheek), images of his body, and hair samples.

Those procedures, the court heard, would help the investigation with CCTV footage comparison, matching DNA found at the scene, and matching possible hair samples, among other things.

The prosecution also sought the confirmation of orders made for interim forensic procedures, such as blood samples and fingernail scrapings, conducted on December 18 after the man's arrest.

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At that time, Wijesinghe was designated as an "incapable person" but has since been cleared by a psychiatrist as "capable" and "fit to consent to the application".

Ultimately, the magistrate confirmed the orders for last month's interim procedures and ordered the majority of further forensic procedures to be carried out.

"In my view, the balancing exercise weighs clearly in favour of the public interest in obtaining evidence tending to confirm or disprove if the suspect committed the offence," Mr Temby said.

However, the magistrate ruled any hair sample collection was "premature" as no hair to match had been found at the crime scene.

The court heard the examination of exhibits from "different scenes", including the deceased woman, were not yet finalised.

Mr Temby said because Wijesinghe had not provided reasons for not consenting to the procedures, his objection was "irrelevant".

Wijesinghe is set to return to court in April.