A new charge has been levelled at a Canberra woman over an alleged plot to collect an inheritance by using the dark web to solicit the murders of her wealthy parents.
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The 28-year-old woman, who cannot be named, is set to stand trial late next month in relation to seven charges she denies.
The latest - using a telecommunications network with intent to facilitate a serious offence - was only revealed in the ACT Supreme Court during a failed bail bid on Tuesday.
The woman had previously pleaded not guilty to two counts each of incitement to murder and theft, as well as single charges of burglary and money laundering.
The Crown case is that the accused had an "difficult and acrimonious" relationship with her parents, feeling the business owners had excluded and invalidated her during her youth.
Her parents' estates were said to be worth about $8 million at the time of her alleged crimes in 2020, when the woman was in dire financial straits with just $2.36 to her name.
She stood to collect one-third of her parents' wealth if they died, according to prosecutors, who allege she stole $35,000 from her parents by transferring herself money from their accounts without permission.
The woman then allegedly accessed a dark web forum called The Sinaloa Cartel Marketplace and offered $20,000 to have her parents killed.
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She allegedly entered into an agreement to pay a forum administrator, "Juan", half the fee upfront and then provide the balance when she received her inheritance.
Journalists researching the dark web stumbled across the alleged plot and alerted police, who believe "Juan" was a scammer with no intention of murdering anyone.
The woman was arrested in December 2020 and given multiple chances on bail, only to breach the conditions three times and wind up back in custody towards the end of 2021.
Applying for release again on Tuesday, defence barrister Jon White SC admitted the woman had "stuffed up" on bail before.
However, he said she was no longer "in the thrall of previous associates" who had led her down the path of non-compliance in the past.
"She frankly concedes she wasn't ready to be given bail on previous occasions, and she's ready to be given bail on this occasion," Mr White told the court.
The barrister added that the woman had been released without issue for a single day last November in order to attend to issues at her home.
"[That day] was, you might think, a dry run for successful completion of bail," Mr White told Chief Justice Lucy McCallum.
However, prosecutor Keegan Lee argued a person allegedly prepared to have their parents murdered was unlikely to be dissuaded from crime by bail conditions.
Mr Lee also told the court history showed the woman "has had difficulty complying with any bail conditions".
Chief Justice McCallum referred to the previous breaches as she ultimately refused bail, saying the accused appeared unable or unwilling to comply with court-imposed conditions.
The judge said she did not think the proposed bail conditions were sufficient to adequately mitigate the risks the woman might present if released from custody.
The woman's trial is scheduled to start on March 27.
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