Julie Hutchinson: Husband charged with murdering Townsville wife.

UPDATE:

The husband of a north Queensland woman who has been missing for more than a month has been charged with murder and interfering with her corpse.

Townsville mother of two Julie Hutchinson, 48, was reported missing on April 9 but has not been seen since March 7.

Her house in the suburb of Condon was declared a crime scene over the weekend and forensic police were called in to scour for evidence when information came to hand suggesting they were dealing with a homicide.

A car belonging to her family was also seized.

Ms Hutchinson’s husband, 47-year old Michael Hutchinson, was arrested and has been in custody since Saturday night.

He was charged with murder and interfering with her corpse this afternoon.

He is expected to appear in the Townsville Magistrates Court tomorrow.

This article was originally published by ABC Online.

Previously we reported:

Police are yet to lay any charges in their investigation into a missing mother of two in Townsville in north Queensland, who is suspected of being murdered.

Julie Hutchinson, 48, was reported missing from a Townsville property on April 9.

Ms Hutchinson was last seen at a residence in Chelsea Drive on March 7, almost a month before being reported missing by her sister.

New evidence saw the investigation upgraded to homicide yesterday, with her 47-year-old husband being arrested.

At a press conference, police said Ms Hutchinson’s house was declared a crime scene late on Saturday when information came to hand suggesting they were dealing with a homicide.

Police yesterday scoured her family home in Condon for clues as to her disappearance and a family car has been seized.

Her husband is yet to be charged and Detective Inspector David Nixon is urging anyone with information to come forward.

“The investigation was undertaken initially to make inquiries to see if we could indentify Julie’s whereabouts,” he said.

“As we made further inquiries and we came by information and evidence, and that caused us to change our focus to one of homicide, and as I say, we now believe that Julie – the missing person – is deceased.

“We are appealing to the public for anyone who would have any information, who may have seen Julie in the past month, or a silver 2004 Mazda 6 sedan, which belongs to Julie, and may have been in the Herveys Range area.”

Neighbours on the quiet suburban street described the couple as nice, quiet people who kept to themselves.

They said the couple had lived in the area for about a decade.

Neighbours said Ms Hutchinson was a long-term employee of Queensland Nickel, owned by Clive Palmer.

Her husband works in security.

Police are continuing to search for her body.

This article was originally published by ABC Online.