Qld: Man questioned over backpacker murder jailed

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Qld: Man questioned over backpacker murder jailed

By Ainsley Pavey

BRISBANE, April 16 AAP - A man who was questioned over the murder of English backpackerCaroline Stuttle was today jailed for seven months on unrelated charges.

Jeremy Richard Wilson, 21, pleaded guilty in Bundaberg Magistrates Court to six drug-relatedcharges as homicide detectives continued to hunt for Miss Stuttle's killer.

Magistrate Barry Barrett jailed Wilson, an itinerant of no fixed address, after hearinghe assisted police with their investigation into the death of the 19-year-old tourist.

The New Zealand-born unemployed man was taken into custody on the weekend after policefound him in Gladstone, north of Bundaberg.

He was jailed for possessing drugs and failing to appear in court last Friday and forbreaching reporting and residential conditions after being granted bail on the charges.

Wilson, who will serve his term in Rockhampton Correctional Centre, was also resentencedon a probation order he received in 2000 for possessing drugs and for failing to statehis correct name to police.

Regional Crime Coordinator Detective Inspector Jeff Oliphant said today there wereno new leads but Wilson remained a person of interest with others in the case.

"We are confident we will eventually find who is responsible for this thing," InspectorOliphant said today.

Ms Stuttle was travelling with her best friend Sarah Holiday when she was murderedlast week while crossing the Burnett River Bridge in the Queensland sugar city, 350 kmnorth of Brisbane.

Her body was found under the bridge and a post mortem examination found she was assaultedand suffered severe head and spinal injuries from the nine metre drop.

Detectives have taken DNA samples from Wilson and other witnesses as part of routinepolice investigations.

AAP ap/sc/cjh/sb

KEYWORD: BACKPACKER COURT