Aaron Carlino appears in court charged over murder of Stephen Cookson Stephen Ramon Cookson, whose severed head was found on a Rottnest beach in January this year. THREE men will stand trial next year over the Rottnest Island "head-in-a-bag" murder. Aaron Carlino, 29, appeared via video-link at Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court today and pleaded not guilty to the murder of 56-year-old racing identity Stephen Cookson, whose plastic bag-wrapped head was discovered by a young girl washed up on a beach in January. Yovan Gonzalez, 34, also appeared via video-link and pleaded not guilty to a charge of interfering with Mr Cookson's corpse. Thomas Christopher Mailey, 31, appeared in the court in person and pleaded not guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice. The grim find of Mr Cookson's head on Porpoise Bay on the southeast of the island off Perth came three weeks after he was allegedly shot in the head at an apartment in the city's east. The rest of his body has never been found. Mailey was released on bail, while Carlino and Gonzalez were remanded in custody ahead of their next appearance in Perth's Supreme Court on January 20.