Drug pipe discovered in fatal crash wreckage
A DRUG pipe found in the car that killed a Brisbane mother and daughter in a Christmas Day horror smash was still warm when police discovered it.
The injured driver of the BMW, Mark Veneris, 46, tried to discharge himself from hospital after he woke up, un- aware of what had happened.
Veneris has been charged with one count each of dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death and dangerous operation of a vehicle causing grievous bodily harm.
Blood test results are still pending, but police said further charges could be laid over the horror smash that killed Makayla Tritton, 18, and her mother Karin, 56. Officers said the family, on their way to Christmas lunch, had no chance of avoiding the head-on collision, in which Veneris’ car crossed the median strip on Manly Rd, Manly West.
Superintendent Dave Johnson yesterday said five more witnesses had come forward in relation to the tragedy. He appealed for anyone with dashcam video or security footage to contact police.
Makayla’s sister Tarmeka and father Laurence are in a stable condition in hospital. Tarmeka, 23, is believed to have a broken ankle and Laurence, 55, fractured vertebrae.
Veneris was also driving to his mother’s house at Tingalpa, just minutes away, for Christmas lunch when he crashed. “They were all waiting for him and he just didn’t come,” a friend said.
Veneris lost his father in July last year and the friend said that he had struggled since.
A friend of the Tritton family said she wanted to see justice done. “Makayla will never know the joy of being a mother, Karin will never know a grandmother’s joy.”