Officer at site earlier

AN INQUEST has heard an off-duty cop had been photographed on a country road in the middle of nowhere with his police ipad and binoculars, just 11 days before his colleague Senior Constable Brett Forte was lured to the same lonely road and murdered.

Senior Constable Andre Thaler said he had parked his sedan on Wallers Rd, an isolated hard-to-access country round, to go bushwalking and birdwatching on his day off.

He told the inquest into Sen Const Forte’s death that he wasn’t searching for anyone.

As Sen Const Thaler went for his walk, wanted man and gunman Ricky Maddison was hiding in a shed on a large rural property just metres away.

The inquest into Sen Const Forte’s death heard Sen Const Thaler would later tell investigators it was just a coincidence he was on Wallers Rd – he wasn’t looking for Maddison, who his squad had been searching for as a priority.

The walk was just 11 days before his tactical crime squad colleague was gunned down by Maddison who lured police to the road in a low-speed chase before he ambushed them and sprayed their vehicle with automatic gunfire.

As Sen Const Thaler walked up the road, which was too steep and only accessible by 4WD, he heard a car idling and went and spoke to a man sitting inside.

Sen Const Thaler told the inquest the man told him there were “hillbillies on these hills” and warned him to stay off his property.

He said he was suspicious so took note of the man’s number plate.

He went and made an intelligence report on his day off. Later, he would determine the man was Adam Byatt, Maddison’s best friend.

Mr Byatt also wasn’t sure who Sen Const Thaler was and the inquest heard he took a photo of him and his car and sent it to Maddison.