Former kickboxer Darren John Berry charged over death of partner Shirley So at Pullman Hotel, Penrith
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A former kickboxer has been charged with murder over the death of his partner whose body was found in a hotel room in Sydney's west.
Darren John Berry, 53, was formally charged on Tuesday during a hospital bedside hearing, where he was refused bail to appear in Penrith Local Court on Wednesday.
Berry, who fought MMA under the fighter name nickname Hacksaw, was found with serious cuts to his arms in a room at the Pullman Hotel in Penrith at about 1.10pm on Sunday after police were called out to the five star venue amid reports of a disturbance.
The body of mother-of-two Shirley So, 50, was found in the same room with multiple stab wounds.
Berry was treated at the scene by paramedics before he was airlifted to Westmead Hospital in a critical condition, where he has remained under police guard.
On Monday, NSW Police applied to the Local Court to carry out a forensic procedure on Berry, which was granted.
Berry, a father and security guard originally from Sydney's west, is a former fighter who competed in the 1990s and early 2000s under the nickname 'Hacksaw'.
On Facebook, he follows many MMA, Muay Thai and UFC pages and frequently shares anti-vaxxer posts.
Darren John Berry, 53, has been charged with the alleged murder of his partner found dead in a hotel room
Posts online suggest Berry frequented the city's eastern suburbs, where Ms So is understood to have resided.
It's understood Mr Berry and Ms So had only started dating in recent months.
Homicide detectives have launched an investigation into the moments leading up to Ms So's death.
Meanwhile, devastated loved ones have flocked online to remember Ms So as a 'beautiful' person.
'[She was] a dear friend of mine as well as a mother, sister, aunty, daughter and a beautiful human being,' one friend wrote online.
Berry is known as 'Hacksaw' from his days as a kickboxer
Emergency services were called to the Pullman Hotel on Mulgoa Road at about 1.10pm, after Ms So's body was discovered
Ms So's shattered family and friends told Nine News they are still struggling to process what has happened and are heartbroken that Shirley will never come home.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
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