John Burdon: Shock court twist in Mandurah boating tragedy that killed Kylie Bazzo and Deborah Burdon

The man accused of being behind the wheel of a boat which crashed in Mandurah, killing his wife and another woman, is set to have his charges dropped. John Burdon made his first appearance before the WA Supreme Court in December 2023, where he formally entered pleas of not guilty to two charges of unlawfully killing Deborah Burdon and Kylie Bazzo. The Supreme Court trial was due to start next week but it is understood prosecutors will apply to drop the case against the 47-year-old at a court hearing on Thursday. The major twist comes almost two years since the women died after the boat in which they were travelling in hit a channel marker in the Mandurah Estuary late on the night of January 21, with police alleging Mr Burdon was the skipper. The impact threw both women into the water, and caused Mr Burdon serious injuries. His wife Debbie, 54, was pulled from the water and died at the scene soon after the crash, but the body of Ms Bazzo, 52, wasn’t found until the following evening. Ms Bazzo is the mother of young West Coast Eagles key defender Rhett Bazzo, and the wife of the late WAFL legend Steve Bazzo, who died of cancer in 2012. After the crash, Mr Burdon was arrested and charged with two counts of manslaughter.