HEROIN CLAIM IN KILLINGS

A MAN accused of killing two Bega schoolgirls told a psychologist he
had overdosed on heroin when the murders took place and knew nothing
about them, a court heard yesterday.

A psychologist from the NSW Department of Corrective Services said
Leslie Alfred Camilleri told her he bought heroin in Bega, NSW, "shot
it up" and "woke up in Canberra" - after the girls had been killed.

Gillian Tulloh said in a statement tendered to Melbourne Magistrates'
Court Camilleri told her he did not remember what happened in between.

He allegedly said his travelling companion, Lindsay Hoani Beckett, had
told him they drove from Bega to Yass and then to Canberra and that
"Lindsay said he saw the demon".

Beckett, who has pleaded guilty to murdering Lauren Barry, 14, and
Nichole Collins, 16, and given evidence against Camilleri, is serving
a minimum 35-year prison sentence for his crimes.

The two teenagers were viciously murdered at Fiddlers Green Creek,
10km south of the Victoria-NSW border, after a 12-hour ordeal in
October last year during which they were repeatedly raped.

The court heard yesterday Camilleri allegedly described Beckett to Ms
Tulloh as a "sleazebag, but he's the only one in Yass that'll talk to
me".

Magistrate Wendy Wilmoth yesterday ordered Camilleri to stand trial at
the Supreme Court for the murders.

Camilleri, 29, of East St, Bega, NSW, pleaded not guilty to both
charges. He was remanded in custody to face trial in the Supreme Court.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry