A man accused of murdering his former wife by running her car off a country road at high speed has been ordered to appear in court for the first time since the crash, which left him disabled.
Troy Armstrong, 36, is charged with murdering his former wife, Kristy Armstrong, when he allegedly drove his ute towards her sedan at 140kmh in Molong in New South Wales on 9 June 2023.
He also faces two attempted murder charges related to passengers in the sedan – who were left with minor injuries – and three counts of breaching apprehended violence orders.
Armstrong has not entered pleas and is due to face a committal hearing in July.
Magistrate David Day asked on Thursday whether Armstrong, who is being held in Long Bay jail’s hospital on remand, would be fit to attend the hearing via audio-visual link.
“He is fit to appear,” Armstrong’s lawyer Drew Hamilton told Orange local court during the brief mention. “It does take some work to get him in the AVL suite but he can appear.”
Day set the hearing date and asked that Armstrong appear from custody. It will be the first time he has faced court after being critically injured in the crash.
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The case has taken a year to reach the committal stage in part because the cars were sent to the US for specialist forensic testing.
Kristy Armstrong’sfamily and friends have attended each court appearance since Armstrong’s arrest, wearing purple in her honour.
