Man in court for allegedly detaining and assaulting suspected murder victim Trevor King

An Adelaide man has appeared in court charged with allegedly detaining and assaulting suspected murder victim Trevor King almost a year before he was found dead at West Lakes, in Adelaide's north-west.

The man appeared in Christies Beach Magistrates Court today charged over the alleged assault of Mr King at North Plympton in February 2019.

Police allege the assault was "prolonged" and "violent".

Four people, including the man, were arrested for the alleged assault shortly after the incident, but charges were withdrawn in September 2019.

He was rearrested yesterday after a cold case review by Taskforce Southern.

The accused, who was self-represented, today told Magistrate Jayne Basheer he would not be applying for bail.

His case was adjourned until May.

Detectives have not ruled out further arrests and today charged a 25-year-old woman in connection with the incident.

She had also previously been arrested in early 2019.

The woman did not apply for bail and will appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Thursday.

Two other deaths investigated

Mr King was found dead in waters at West Lakes in January 2020, and his death is being investigated alongside the disappearance and suspected murders of Robert Atkins in November 2020, and Jeff Mundy the following month.

Taskforce Southern was launched in November 2021, and at the time was one of the biggest operations in the state.

Police believe Mr King, Mr Atkins and Mr Mundy were killed by a group of people over small drug debts.

Mr King's death was initially treated as a suicide by drug overdose, but police later revealed they believed he was killed by a "hot shot" — an intentional injection of a lethal drug.

So far, no arrests have been made in connection to any of the three suspected murders.