Liam James Reid has been charged with a sex attack on a woman in Dunedin nine days after he is alleged to have murdered Emma Agnew and dumped her body near Spencer Park, north of Christchurch.
The joining of the Dunedin charges to Reid's murder trial at the High Court in Christchurch remained suppressed until the indictment was read in court today before the jury was empanelled.
The trial, before Justice Lester Chisholm, is expected to take at least four weeks. The Crown plans to call evidence from 106 witnesses.
Reid faces charges of raping and murdering 20-year-old Miss Agnew, a profoundly deaf woman, on November 15 last year.
The Crown is alleging that while the search was on for her body, 36-year-old Reid attacked another woman in a central Dunedin car park on November 24.
Miss Agnew's body was found near Spencer Park two days after that, and Reid was arrested in Christchurch the following day.
In relation to the Dunedin incident, he faces charges of attempted murder, rape, sexual violation, and robbery.
The Crown alleges the woman was repeatedly punched, raped, sexually violated and choked with a rope around her neck, and that her handbag was stolen.
Reid denies all six charges.
