Family of David Vale remembers 'beautiful' man as two face charges over his death

Leearna Nicole Davis, 31, was arrested in West Kempsey on Wednesday, May 17.

She is charged with harbouring, maintaining and assisting Conrad Peter Lardner, who was arrested in the Sydney suburb of Airds, also on Wednesday.

Lardner, 48, has been charged with murder.

David Vale, 39, was found with stab wounds in Robert Eggins Street, South Kempsey, around 11pm on March 1.

NSW Ambulance paramedics treated the father of nine, but he died at the scene.

Officers from the Mid North Coast Police District established Strike Force Weigand to investigate his death.

Davis appeared via video link in Kempsey Local Court before Magistrate Scott Nash on May 18.

The defence told the court that Davis lives with her mother in Wollongong and proposed that she remain there with a curfew, not enter Kempsey except for court proceedings and not make contact with witnesses.

The police prosecution told Magistrate Nash that they opposed bail, given the serious nature of the alleged offence and past instances where Davis had failed to appear in court.

Magistrate Nash formally refused Davis bail and asked for the police evidence brief to be served on July 13.

Mr Vale's widow, Jessica Howard, spoke to the media outside the court.

"We're just happy to get some answers and to get justice for what happened to David," she said.

"He was such a beautiful, loving man, the best father anyone could ever have, and he was a beautiful husband too."

Surrounded by family, Ms Howard remembered her partner as "lovely, beautiful, kind [and] great."

"All these people here are his family and we're here for him," she said.

Davis is due to re-appear in Kempsey Local Court on July 19 for a brief status.

Lardner was refused bail when he appeared in Campbelltown Court on May 18, and is due to re-appear in Kempsey Local Court on June 21 for further mention.

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