Jesse Desmond Jones released on bail after being accused of digging the grave of his roommate Nardia Louise Spice in a Perth park

A woman accused of digging her roommate's grave after she was allegedly murdered in a local park has been released on bail from Hakea Prison.

Jesse Desmond Jones, a transgender woman who has been held in an all-male prison in Western Australia since her indictment in 2022, is accused of aiding and abetting the alleged murder of Perth mother-of-six Nardia Louise Spice.

Ms Spice's body was found in bushland in Jarrahdale, south-east Perth, in October 2022.

Police allege Ms Spice was lured to a dog park by three other people with the promise of sex work and then beaten to death.

Her body was buried about 25 kilometres away in bushland near Ronan Road.

Zachariah Dean Brough pleaded guilty to murder earlier this year, while his girlfriend Eve Marsh and other co-defendant, Ziggy Morgan Vanags, pleaded not guilty to the same charge.

Ms Jones's lawyer testified at an earlier court hearing that she took her friend, Ms Spice, to the park and waited in her car so she could drive her home afterwards, but then fell asleep.

She then drove to another location and only became aware of the suspected murder when she saw her friend's body being taken out of the trunk and carried into the bush.

He also said she claimed she was threatened that she would “get the same thing” if she did not help the co-defendant dispose of the body.

Delays due to lack of suitable address

Today the Supreme Court of Western Australia heard that Ms Jones has been detained since being charged because there were difficulties in finding a suitable address for her to post bail, but she has now secured one through a friend.

Judge Amanda Forrester told the court that it was common practice for someone charged with aiding and abetting a crime to be released on bail.

Her lawyer, Chris Townsend, told the court that Ms Jones had only a limited criminal history relating to cannabis possession and drug paraphernalia, which is why the conviction was expunged.

She was released on bail on the condition that she report to the local police station every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and not have any contact with her co-defendants.

She is scheduled to appear in court again in October.

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