A date with her ex, a $535 bottle of champagne… and alleged murder at Crown Towers: A look at top lawyer Alice McShera’s final days before she was found beaten to death

EXCLUSIVE

A top lawyer who was found dead after allegedly being beaten to death by her boyfriend in her hotel room visited her ex-fiance in her final weeks, Daily Mail Australia can reveal.

Alice Rose McShera, 34, was enjoying a stay at the luxurious Crown Towers in Perth on Sunday evening with her lover Cameron John Pearson, 42, when he allegedly hit her with a blunt object.

Ms McShera’s body was found around 11am on Monday in the same room where she sat the night before, enjoying a $535 bottle of 2012 Dom Perignon and telling her Facebook followers how lucky she was to be with Pearson at the hotel to stay.

Police allege Pearson killed Ms McShera before attempting to take his own life, which failed. He was charged with murder and appeared in court on Tuesday.

Daily Mail Australia previously reported that the couple split during a trip to Hobart in September, but their romance was rekindled in October.

It can now be revealed that Ms McShera was engaged to her long-term boyfriend Justin just two years ago, and visited him in the weeks before she died.

It is understood they split in 2021 after she went on a girls’ trip to Bunker Bay, in the Margaret River region, with some friends, after which Ms McShera was first diagnosed with bipolar.

During that holiday she disappeared for 12 hours, returning to her accommodation in the early hours of the morning – naked, freezing, and telling her friends she had ‘just gone for a swim’.

A friend said that during that trip, too, Ms. McShera began to falsely believe that Justin was poisoning her, effectively ending their relationship. It is not suggested that Justin poisoned Mrs. McShera, only that she mistakenly believed he was.

Records show Ms McShera and Justin have co-owned a mansion on the outskirts of Perth since 2019, with neighbors telling Daily Mail Australia they had seen her at the property within the weeks before she died.

The neighbor, who did not want to be identified, did not realize they had separated and said she never heard any arguing from the neighbors.

“I saw her here a few weeks ago,” the neighbor said.

During those same weeks, Ms. McShera also appeared to seek comfort from a friend.

The friend, who did not want to be named, said she had been upset a fortnight before her death but appeared to have turned things around.

In a text message to Ms. McShera, the friend wrote: “A A few weeks ago you cried in my arms and we hugged each other with happiness… you felt like you looked like your old self again.’

Ms McShera then sent her friend a selfie of herself smiling.

“No filter needed,” Ms. McShera captioned the photo. ‘This smile is all yours. Da b***h is back.”

In another message, Ms McShera told her friend ‘you have saved me twice now and that deserves recognition’.

Ms McShera and Pearson mended their relationship in late October, when she asked him to help her move.

A few days later, on October 26, Ms McShera checked into her room at the Crown Towers, ahead of the WA Law Society gala dinner – held at the same venue the following evening.

The room would have cost more than $300 per night. She stayed there for three nights, during which time she was able to try out the hotel’s many restaurants, shop for designer jewelry, and enjoy the luxurious amenities.

It is understood that Mr Pearson stayed with her for at least part of the booking.

On the Sunday before her death, he had custody of his daughter, who is almost two years old, until 5 p.m.

Ms McShera took the little girl back to her grandparents’ house with Pearson that afternoon before they returned to the hotel.

She then wrote her final Facebook post: “Spending the night before my next surgery… Silly (drinking Perignon champagne), watching old DVDs and loving life,” she wrote above a photo in the suite.

The photo showed a cot.

It is believed that the surgery she was referring to was a follow-up procedure to a previous stomach surgery.

Later that evening, a family member called the hotel in desperation, urging staff to contact Ms McShera.

What happened between about 5 p.m. Sunday and 11 a.m. Monday – when her body was found – is unclear.

However, her alleged murder is said to have taken place just meters from guests in other rooms, and floors above gamblers trying their luck at the casino.

The walls are thick and the hallways are dark and quiet.

Hotel staff found her body Monday morning. Pearson was taken to hospital with suspected self-inflicted wounds before being charged with murder.

Family friends said Pearson’s parents are “devastated.” He appeared in court on Tuesday, supported by his parents and sister.

About a half-dozen members of Perth’s legal fraternity sat in the public gallery, showing obvious consternation.

Pearson was not required to enter a plea and twice refused to acknowledge that he understood the charges, despite speaking with his lawyer Reid Hogan during the proceedings.

Instead, he shrugged in response to Magistrate Stephen Butcher’s questions before being led out of the defendants’ glass dock.

Ms McShera worked primarily in the Family Court and was based in the Murray Chambers in Perth’s CBD.

She had over 10 years of experience as a lawyer and attorney and was a member of the Family Law Practitioners Association of Western Australia and the Law Society of Western Australia.

She has also appeared in the WA Supreme Court and Magistrates Court and previously worked as an associate to a WA Family Court judge.

Price Family Law paid tribute to their colleague Alice on Thursday, praising her ‘passion, skill, dedication and hilarious sense of humour’.