Carmen Thomas murder accused appears in court

Carmen Thomas. Photo / Supplied

Defence lawyers for the man accused of killing Carmen Thomas have received written statements from 132 crown witnesses.

Bradford Callaghan appeared at the Auckland District Court in a packed court room today.

Much of today's appearance was taken up with media applications to film and photograph the proceedings.

Callaghan's lawyer Stuart Grieve QC said he had received 19,000 pages of evidence from the police and applied for an extension of time.

Callaghan was arrested and charged with killing Ms Thomas - who was his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his 5-year-old son - in September.

The 10-week murder inquiry received widespread media coverage last year.

Callaghan is due to reappear in court in April.