Rehab last call for slain drug enforcer
THE man shot dead in Tweed Heads at the weekend was in a drug rehab centre seven weeks ago after being given bail for an alleged armed robbery in Burleigh Heads.
Drug enforcer Ace John Anthony Hall, 31, was sent to the facility in Thornlands, southeast of Brisbane, in May.
He was awaiting trial for a home invasion last November, for which he was charged with burglary, robbery while armed in company and assault occasioning bodily harm.
Hall was also accused of driving a stolen motor vehicle in the getaway.
After spending several months in custody, Hall was granted bail on the condition he reside at Thornlands.
He checked out of rehab only weeks before he was shot in the abdomen at close range outside a Machinery Drive warehouse in South Tweed on Saturday.
Mr Hall was taken to Tweed Heads hospital in a car by his girlfriend and another man.
He died during surgery. The third occupant of the car fled the scene.
Police yesterday located a car they believe is linked to the shooting murder.
It is understood the white Holden Commodore station wagon found dumped outside a croquet club in Steep St was used to take Hall to the hospital. A crowbar is believed to have been found in the car.
The vehicle is the second taken by police as evidence related to Saturday’s shooting.
Tweed police, bolstered by state homicide detectives have set up Taskforce Varndell to help solve the murder.
They yesterday continued to search several warehouses in South Tweed.
It is understood the person who killed Hall thought they would be shot themselves.
Breaking Through Drug and Alcohol Rehab centre confirmed Hall had been at Thornlands for a “short period of time”.
Originally from Adelaide, Hall has an extensive criminal history, having been sentenced to jail, community service orders and fined in courts around the country over the past decade.
In 2007, the father of two was in a Townsville court charged with public nuisance and driving without a licence. He also drove while disqualified in Cairns that year.
Two years later, in the Adelaide Magistrates Court, he received a good behaviour bond for an aggravated assault and resisting arrest.
His offending escalated in 2011 when he was caught carrying an offensive weapon in South Australia. He handed a fine of $360.
A year later, Hall served a six-month jail term for another aggravated assault in Adelaide.
In 2013, he was slapped with another five months in jail, suspended for two years, for an aggravated assault. That year he also faced court for domestic violence offences.
By 2015, the standover man was facing a second domestic violence intervention order and gave police false details before another stint in jail.
Despite his run-ins with police, Hall’s family yesterday was said he was a “dedicated and loving father” who moved to Queensland last year for a “fresh start”.
But Hall began hanging around with other men involved in the criminal world.
One was accused of several robberies, including one at a Gympie jewellery store, while another had a history of theft in Brisbane’s inner north.
It is understood one of Hall’s other associates had spent time in Brisbane Correctional Centre where he forced another person to smuggle him in drugs.
In 2016 alone, Hall was sentenced by the Pine Rivers, Redcliffe, Beaudesert, Caboolture and Brisbane magistrates courts for a raft of drug, driving and stealing offences.
In April, he was charged after being caught with the drug ice in Brisbane’s Chermside. He was ordered to pay a $2000 fine.
Hall was expected to face trial over the Burleigh Heads charges in the Brisbane District Court in October.
Police are yet to arrest and charge someone for his murder. They continue to appeal for information.