Joan Ryther's accused killer in custody The teenager accused of raping and murdering pregnant Logan woman Joan Ryther could spend up to a year in jail before the case goes to trial. The young man, who cannot be named and who turned 18 on Saturday only hours after being charged, was remanded in custody in Beenleigh Magistrates Court on Monday. He is charged with murder, rape and the unlawful assault of a pregnant woman. Aboriginal elders have condemned the display of a hangman's noose outside the court, pleading for the community to remain calm. Joan's husband, Cory Ryther, stared down his wife's accused killer during the brief hearing, sitting rigidly in a chair directly facing the glass dock. Fists clenched on his thighs and clearly distressed, he swayed in his chair to get a clear look at the young man who sat shackled in brown prison-issued clothing behind a glass screen. Magistrate Trevor Morgan adjourned the case to August 5, directing police to have a brief of evidence partly prepared by that date. Prosecutor Sergeant Tony Donovan told the court it would take between six and 12 months to complete the brief. Ms Ryther, who was 27 and three months pregnant, was attacked while walking to work on the night of May 21. Her partly clothed body was found the next morning, only metres from the McDonald's restaurant where she worked. Mr Ryther, trembling and struggling to hold back tears, was too distressed to speak to reporters as he left court. Surrounded by media and supported by friends and plain clothes detectives, he did not notice a hangman's noose dangling from a tree outside the building. The yellow rope was quickly removed. The accused's mother, aunty and sister travelled from the Cherbourg Aboriginal community northwest of Brisbane for the hearing but arrived after proceedings ended. Elder Sam Watson pleaded for people to remain calm. "It's a terrible, terrible thing that's happened and with everything that went on last week with the AFL we need to take the question of race out of this," he told reporters. It's very, very tense around here, that's why elders are coming to try to support the family through this. Mr Watson said people on both sides had been enormously traumatised. You've got the family who lost this beautiful young woman ... on the other side you've got this young man who's been charged and he's in custody and going through a great deal too. We're trying to support the family and just asking people to please back off. Please just let the courts deal with this. Defence lawyer Michael Bosscher said he was appalled it was likely to take police up to a year to prepare their case. Normally you would have a brief of evidence in 10 to 12 weeks for a matter of this type. His client would vigorously defend the charges, he told reporters.