Waqas Haider (both images) has been charged with murder over his alleged involvement in a fatal crash. Photos: ACT Policing.
UPDATE, 12 pm: The man charged with murder over the death of a woman on the Monaro Highway has been refused bail and remanded in custody.
Waqas Haider is accused of killing 36-year-old Samantha Holmes of Candelo in a fatal car crash on the highway between Canberra and Cooma on 1 March 2026.
The case against the 40-year-old from the ACT suburb of Charnwood appeared in the NSW bail list on Wednesday (25 March) after he was handed seven charges, including murder.
He made no application for bail and it was formally refused, before the matter was adjourned to 2 June at the Queanbeyan Local Court.
According to documents previously tendered to the ACT Magistrates Court, it is alleged Mr Haider was driving the second vehicle in the car crash that killed Ms Holmes.
Documents say police were originally investigating whether the collision was an “intentional act”.
Wednesday, 10:50 am: A Canberra man has been charged with murder after a Bega Valley woman died in a fatal car crash on the Monaro Highway.
Samantha Holmes, a 36-year-old from Candelo, was driving on the Monaro Highway near Michelago in the early hours of 1 March when she was killed in a crash with another car.
The driver of the second car allegedly fled the crash scene before police arrived.
Later that morning, a now-40-year-old man from Canberra, who will not be named until he faces his new charges in court, was found in a nearby paddock with a suspected broken ankle.
He was arrested before being treated by paramedics and taken to Canberra Hospital under police guard.
The man was taken for a mental health assessment before returning to the ACT Magistrates Court on Tuesday (24 March), then being extradited to NSW.
A NSW Police spokesperson said he was taken to Queanbeyan Police Station that afternoon. He was then handed seven charges, including murder.
His other charges were single counts of dangerous driving occasioning death and failing to stop and assist after a vehicle impact causing death, as well as two counts each of predatory driving and dangerous driving.
The man was refused bail and was scheduled to appear before Bail Division Court 3 on Wednesday (25 March).
Original Article published by Albert McKnight on Region Canberra.
