Bail for wife accused of killing terminally ill husband
Rex Martinich |
A woman accused of killing her paralysed and terminally ill husband may have been in “two minds” when she administered a lethal cocktail of medication, a judge says.
Kylie Ellina Truswell‑Mobbs was granted bail on Tuesday after being charged with murdering her 56-year-old husband, who was dying from motor neurone disease.
The 51-year-old has been committed to stand trial after her husband, former firefighter David Ronald Mobbs, died at their Alexandra Hills home, southeast of Brisbane, in December 2023.
Justice Paul Smith previously heard Mr Mobbs told one of his sons, Rylee Relja, he had wanted to end his life if the incurable and degenerative neurological condition reached the point where he could no longer use the toilet.
“David and his family were informed by medical practitioners they could not alleviate his suffering,” Justice Smith told Brisbane Supreme Court.
“He had communicated to others that should he reach the point of needing nappies, this incapacity and humiliation would be intolerable to him.”
As part of her bail conditions, Truswell-Mobbs is unable to live or discuss evidence with her sons who are set to be witnesses at her trial.
Truswell-Mobbs was denied bail in April 2025 but Justice Smith found there had been a material change in her circumstances since a committal hearing in February had been presented with evidence favourable to her.
“In this case it might be argued that although the applicant administered the medications, she was of two minds about whether she wanted David to die or not,” Justice Smith said.
“Because on the one hand she loved him and wanted him to live and on the other she didn’t want him to suffer.”
Justice Smith said there was now more of a chance she could be acquitted of all charges by a jury or be found guilty of the alternative charges of manslaughter or assisted suicide.
“She is of exemplary character and has absolutely no previous convictions,” Justice Smith said.
“There is very little flight risk.”
Mr Mobbs’ once‑strong body had been devastated by an aggressive form of motor neurone disease diagnosed in April 2023, Justice Smith was told during a bail hearing last week.
Within months, he had gone from independent to entirely bedridden, unable to walk or move without assistance.
By December, he could no longer speak and communicated by blinking, making noises or using a letter board if someone lifted his hand.
Mr Mobbs was physically incapable of taking his own life at the time, Justice Smith heard.
Truswell‑Mobbs admitted to police she injected her husband’s feeding tube with a cocktail of medications to help end his life, the court heard last week.
Mr Mobbs and his family were told by a palliative care team hours before the alleged murder that his feeding tubes could be withdrawn and pain managed to allow a “natural” death over days or weeks.
The care team also said the process to apply for voluntary assisted dying would take at least nine days.
Truswell-Mobbs has spent more than 12 months in custody but was on Tuesday granted bail with additional conditions preventing her from speaking with witnesses.
She is due to face trial in Brisbane Supreme Court at a date to be fixed.
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AAP