Four days before the scheduled trial was to begin, prosecutors dropped manslaughter charges in connection with a boating crash south of Perth that killed two women, including the mother of West Coast Eagles footballer Rhett Bazzo.

John Burdon, 59, was not required to attend Superior Court this afternoon, where prosecutors told Judge Stephen Lemonis it had been determined there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction.

Mr Burdon was due to face a jury trial on Monday accused of murdering his wife Debbie, 54, and her friend Kylie Bazzo in the Mandurah Estuary on the night of January 21 last year.

Ms. Burdon died at the scene, but Ms. Bazzo’s body was not found until the next night following a search by water police.

Mr Burdon was injured in the crash and when he first appeared in court shortly after the accident he was walking with a limp with the aid of a crutch and had a leg brace.

He has been on bail since the charge was filed in October last year and has officially pleaded not guilty, but faces life imprisonment if found guilty at trial.

Doubt as to who is driving the boat

The dropping of the charges came after an eyewitness claimed Mr Burdon was not at the wheel of the boat.

Eyewitness Nichole Jones was on another boat in the estuary with her husband and two friends.

In an interview with a commercial radio station in Perth two days after the accident, he revealed that moments before the collision he had shouted at the other boat warning that the navigation lights were not on, but swore in response.

He also emphasized that he witnessed who was driving the car and that it was not Mr Burdon.

“I saw it visually; when I saw them live, all over the boat, they were just a few meters away from me,” he told Perth radio station 6PR.

Ms. Jones said that her ship was the first to arrive at the scene and that those on board tried to help the stricken boat, but the driver escaped.

He later said his boat spent hours searching for Ms. Bazzo, who was thrown overboard.

Prosecutor Michael Cvetkoski explained that further information had been provided during pre-trial conferences which meant it was possible Mr Burdon was not operating the boat and therefore could not be proven responsible beyond a reasonable doubt.

Family in court

The deaths of the two women sparked a surge of community support, with the West Coast Eagles Football Club issuing a statement at the time saying they were devastated by the loss of Ms Bazzo.

She became the first female chief executive of the Western Australian Football League (WAFL) when she was appointed manager of Peel Thunder in 2000.

His son Rhett was drafted 37th overall in the AFL draft by the Eagles in 2001.

Rhett’s father Steven, one of the big names at the Swan Districts WAFL club, died of cancer in 2015.

Members of Ms. Bazzo’s family were in court, including her son Rhett, but had no comment as they left.

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