Cops eye gay hate motive in killing

AN alleged teenage killer sent messages to his victim on gay dating app Grindr before murdering him on the NSW south coast, police say.

The body of Canberra resident Peter Keeley, 56, was discovered near Broulee on February 2.

Two teenage friends, both 17, were charged with murder yesterday and a third was arrested.

NSW Police detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said Mr Keeley had communicated with one of the teens via Grindr.

“One of the lines of inquiry is the method of communication used by the victim,” he said yesterday morning. “That was investigated and a number of dating apps were used and one of those was Grindr.”

He said police were investigating possible motives for the alleged killing – including if it was a gay hate crime.

“There’s a number of motives that I can’t talk about and can’t elaborate on,” the homicide squad commander said.

“We have to look at other considerations, such as whether there was anything drug-related, whether it was robberyrelated, or whether it was a hate crime. It’s unclear at this stage.”

The two 17-year-olds were arrested and taken to Batemans Bay Police Station after three homes in the Broulee area were raided from 6am yesterday.

Supt Doherty said he understood “their parents were present” during the search warrants, and at least one of the teenagers was still a school student.

One of the boys was taken away with bare feet.

A post mortem examination conducted last week was “inconclusive”, however police said Mr Keeley suffered head and facial injuries. His hands and legs were tied with duct tape, Nine News reported.

“At the time the man’s body was located, he was wearing a dark blue sleeveless fitted Tshirt, light blue jeans and white sneakers,” NSW Police said.

The two teens were refused bail and were expected to appear at a children’s court later yesterday.

A third teenager, also 17, was arrested at a home in the Broulee area just before 3pm and was expected to be charged over the incident.

Mr Keeley’s family say they are still coming to terms with his death. “All that can be said is we have been deeply affected by this tragedy and we are still grieving,” the family said in a statement yesterday.

A NUMBER OF DATING APPS WERE USED (FOR COMMUNICATION) AND ONE OF THOSE WAS (GAY DATING APP) GRINDR SUPERINTENDENT DANNY DOHERTY