SA man pleads not guilty to crash murder

A man who allegedly drove his car into an oncoming vehicle, killing two people, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder.

In the South Australian Supreme Court on Monday, Michael Frank Knowles pleaded not guilty to murdering James Moore and Natasha Turnbull, both aged 24.

Prosecutors allege Knowles, 37, deliberately drove into the path of another car on the Lincoln Highway near Whyalla in December last year.

Mr Moore, a palaeontology researcher at Flinders University, had been in the area looking for camping sites for an upcoming archaeological dig and his friends had joined him for the ride.

Knowles was originally charged with two counts of manslaughter but the charges were upgraded in July after further investigations.

He will return to the Supreme Court on November 6.