An inquest into Valmai “Jane” Birch’s death has concluded. Photo: NSW Courts.
Exactly how and when 34-year-old Valmai Birch died remain a mystery, following a coronial inquest into her 2011 death.
The Woonona woman, also known as Jane, was found with her right ankle tied to her waist, stuffed upside-down into a bin half-filled with water in her Woonona home.
Police forced entry after neighbours and her partner said they had not seen her for weeks; neighbours had also complained of a foul smell coming from Ms Birch’s unit.
Ms Birch’s partner, David Bagster, was jailed for her manslaughter in 2022.
Despite launching an appeal, his conviction was upheld in 2024.
Bagster maintains his innocence and has never shared how and when Ms Birch died.
During the inquest on Tuesday (26 August) Deputy State Coroner Stuart Devine heard Ms Birch was born on 14 May 1979 to Shirley and Phillip and grew up in Thirroul with her parents and older brother Ian.
She had two children who were taken from her by the then Department of Community Services.
Her mother passed away in 1991 and her father in 1999.
The court heard Ms Birch had been unable to kick a drug habit, despite taking part in a number of drug rehab programs.
Witnesses to her relationship with Bagster said it was characterised by regular drug use and violence.
Ms Birch was last seen by her neighbours and was captured on CCTV footage in Wollongong on 9 March, 2011.
Neighbours heard a woman’s scream come from her unit about 11:30 pm on 12 March, 2011.
A bad smell was noted coming from the unit by 15 March and on 21 March a worried neighbour called police.
The court heard that medical examiners found Ms Birch’s body too badly decomposed to identify an exact cause and time of her death.
Likely causes of her death were positional asphyxia, from being placed upside-down in the wheelie bin, drowning, as her head and neck were underwater when she was found, neck compression or strangulation, drug overdose, or a combination of two or more of those mechanisms.
Bagster’s fingerprint and DNA were found on the otherwise-clean wheelie bin.
Bagster initially cooperated with police and told them he did not know how Ms Birch died.
He was first tried for manslaughter in January 2021.
The jury could not reach a conclusion and a retrial was held in mid-2022. This time Bagster was convicted and sentenced to 11 1/2 years, with an eight-year non-parole period.
He later appealed the conviction in 2024.
The court was told when Bagster appealed, the presiding judge said there was no reasonable possibility Ms Birch had died only of a drug overdose and said anyone who was concerned about being implicated in such an accidental death would not tie her body up and dispose of it in the bin.
During the inquest into Ms Birch’s death, the police evidence and notes that formed the investigation into Ms Birch’s death were tendered to Deputy State Coroner Devine.
He said based on the evidence he was not able to determine the precise cause or time of Ms Birch’s death by manslaughter.
He found she died between 9 March and 21 March 2011 at 1/5 Woods Avenue, Woonona and was killed by a person known to her.
“I extend my deepest sympathies to Ms Birch’s family and friends and thank officers for making this possible,” he said.
