Developing·Case the developing record
#DC-0114

Donna Howe

Caboolture grandmother Donna Howe died in 2022; two men are on trial in Brisbane on murder charges they deny.

Convicted
last updated 24 August 2026 · 4 sources
Confirmed facts
18
Open questions
0
Trial length
3 weeks
Defendants
2
This case is still developing. Get an email when the file updates.
Audio brief · automated narration of the sourced record
Transcript

Case file Donna Howe, reference D C zero one one four. ABC News reported that Donna Howe’s daughter reported Ms Howe missing on five June twenty twenty-two. ABC News reported that, on seven June, two men driving on a remote four-wheel-drive track found human remains in Beerburrum State Forest near the Glass House Mountains. ABC News reported that police later charged two Caboolture men with murder and misconduct with a corpse, and that the charges were allegations at that stage. According to ABC News, on twenty-seven July twenty twenty-six, Clinton Oliver, forty-five, and Braydon Franklin, thirty-five, pleaded not guilty in Brisbane’s Supreme Court to murdering Donna Howe. ABC News reported that both men pleaded guilty to interfering with a corpse. ABC News reported that, on four August twenty twenty-six, a jury convicted Oliver and Franklin of murder. ABC News reported that, on five August, Justice Martin Burns sentenced both men to life in prison for murder, with a twenty-one-year non-parole period for each. The file lists no open questions. This has been an automated reading of case file D C zero one one four at developing case dot com. Every fact you heard names a public source.

Timeline of what's confirmed18 entries
5 June 2022
Donna Howe's daughter reported Ms Howe missing.
ABC News
7 June 2022
Two men driving on a remote four-wheel-drive track found human remains in Beerburrum State Forest near the Glass House Mountains.
ABC News
8 June 2022
Detective Senior Sergeant Craig Mansfield said police had confirmed the remains were human and were treating the death as suspicious.
ABC News
8 June 2022
Detective Senior Sergeant Craig Mansfield said charred areas were visible around the remains, while police were still investigating whether burning or decomposition explained the scene.
ABC News
9 June 2022
Police charged a 41-year-old man and a 31-year-old man, both from Caboolture, with murder and misconduct with a corpse; the charges were allegations at that stage.
ABC News
9 June 2022
Detective Senior Sergeant Anthony Green said one of the charged men lived with Ms Howe and the other visited the Balkee Drive home.
ABC News
27 July 2026
On the first day of a three-week Supreme Court trial in Brisbane, Clinton Oliver, 45, and Braydon Franklin, 35, pleaded not guilty to murdering Donna Howe.
ABC News
27 July 2026
Clinton Oliver and Braydon Franklin pleaded guilty to interfering with a corpse, and Justice Martin Burns told the jury those offences would be dealt with later.
ABC News
27 July 2026
Crown Prosecutor Nathan Crane alleged Ms Howe was killed on 8 May 2022 after returning home from a Mother's Day dinner with her daughter.
ABC News
27 July 2026
Crown Prosecutor Nathan Crane alleged the Balkee Street home owned by Ms Howe was where the killing took place.
ABC News
27 July 2026
Oliver's lawyer, John Cook, told the jury they must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that his client intended to kill or cause grievous bodily harm.
ABC News
27 July 2026
Franklin's lawyer, Damian Walsh, told the jury his client sent messages to Oliver to humour him and get Oliver to leave him alone.
ABC News
4 August 2026
A jury convicted Clinton Oliver and Braydon Franklin of murder.
ABC News · added 24 Aug 2026
5 August 2026
Justice Martin Burns sentenced Clinton Oliver and Braydon Franklin to life in prison for murder.
ABC News · added 24 Aug 2026
5 August 2026
Justice Martin Burns sentenced Clinton Oliver and Braydon Franklin to five years in prison for interfering with a corpse.
ABC News · added 24 Aug 2026
5 August 2026
Justice Martin Burns set a 21-year non-parole period for each man.
ABC News · added 24 Aug 2026
5 August 2026
ABC News reported that, with time served, Oliver will be eligible for parole in June 2043 and Franklin in November 2044.
ABC News · added 24 Aug 2026
5 August 2026
Justice Martin Burns told the court Ms Howe was killed after walking into her living room, and that her body was later taken to Sunshine Coast bushland and set alight.
ABC News · added 24 Aug 2026
Open questionsunconfirmed · not conclusions
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