Crucified man’s ID helps dust off case
ON August 11, 1994 Hawkesbury fisherman Mark Peterson thought he had made a squid catch of the day when his net began dragging a heavy load.
He was half a mile east of the mouth of Cowan Waters on the Hawkesbury River on an otherwise uneventful languid morning when he felt the net tug sharp.
But it wasn’t until he lifted the haul on to the deck of the Lady Marion trawler that he made the grim discovery he had snagged a steel cross on which the body of a man wrapped in plastic bags was tied; a non-slip rope noose and wire was about his neck.
The unidentified remains were quickly dubbed the “Rack Man” by the media and at the Glebe Morgue was simply tagged “Unknown Human Remains — Patonga (case E48293)” as for more than two decades speculation swirled about his identity.
Now following advances in DNA technology and with little fanfare, the NSW Deputy State Coroner Paul MacMahon has ruled the remains are that of 36year-old Sydney man and known gambler Max Tancevski.
And now the NSW Police Unsolved Homicide Unit is set to dust off the inquiry to look at how or why someone would kill him and dump his body in such a spectacular way.
Police back in 1994 initially believed it was a gangland slaying, made so elaborate with the welded steel crucifix as a possible message to others who may dare to cross them.
But there is nothing to suggest Mr Tancevski had any underworld connections although as a gambler it was known he was in debt to a few people.
“The investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mr Tancevski’s murder was referred to the Unsolved Homicide Unit for investigation,” a NSW Police spokeswoman yesterday confirmed to True Crime Australia.
“But he has now been identified. The case will be triaged and reviewed under the unit’s new processes in due course.”
That new process includes assessing 500 cold cases from the past four decades by “fresh eyes” of specialist detectives to see whether technology and a new review can bring closure for families and loved ones.
The spokeswoman appealed for anybody with information about Mr Tancevski to now contact CrimeStoppers.
Mr Tancevski was last seen by his partner with whom he shared a house in Sydney’s inner west suburb of Newtown on January 11, 1993.
He was known to travel often to the Gold Coast to hit the casinos and alarms bells were not initially rung for a few days.
It was known just before he disappeared he withdrew $1800 cash from the bank which while a lot of money in 1993 was not unusual for the self-confessed heavy gambler.
Soon though his image would sit on missing persons registries in both NSW and Queensland with no new information on his whereabouts for more than 20 years.