A magistrate has rejected an attempt by prosecutors to delay a murder proceeding by almost four months, as a man faces court charged over the disappearance of a Colombian national.
Michael Jeffrey Frankland, 49, appeared at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday after being charged with the murder of Sergio Andres Cuesta Posada, whose body is yet to be found.
Frankland is alleged to have killed the 28-year-old on September 16, which was the last time the man was seen alive, court documents reveal.
Prosecutors asked the magistrate for 15 weeks to gather evidence to serve on defence lawyers.
But Frankland's lawyer pushed back on the delay and asked for service of documents within six weeks, saying she had been given very few details on the murder charge.
"There hasn't been a lot of information, but the circumstances are at this stage, Your Honour, that there's no body that's been recovered," she told the court.
"Fifteen weeks in my opinion ... is excessive."
The prosecutor said six weeks would be "impossible".
"There's some outstanding analysis, which is expected to be quite significant, as well as forensics," he said.
The magistrate rejected the prosecution's application for extended time and gave them six weeks.
Frankland's lawyer said he underwent an operation last week to repair a broken tibia and was on several different medications, including Endone, Ketamine and Oxycodone, for different health problems.
She said he was suffering from a lung clot, due to post-operation complications, chronic heart failure, a diseased heart artery and had a spinal injury.
Frankland did not apply for bail and was remanded in custody to next face court on April 24.
Mr Cuesta, 28, was last seen on September 16, when he was dropped by a friend at an address in Chelsea Heights, 30km southeast of Melbourne, police said earlier.
He had been at a birthday dinner in the CBD and a concerned female friend alerted authorities after she did not hear from him for five days.
