Cairns sex worker arrested
Woman, 32, to face court after man’s body found
GRACE MASON, TOM CHAMBERLIN AND ANDREA FALVO
A CAIRNS sex worker is due to face court on Monday morning charged with causing the death of a Brisbane businessman whose body was found in a Cairns hotel.
Police will allege Anthony Brady, 52, died in suspicious circumstances during a work trip to the Far North last week.
His body was located by police in the Sunshine Tower Hotel on Sheridan St in the Cairns CBD on Friday, the day after worried family reported him missing when he failed to make his flight home.
A 32-year-old woman, who was originally named a “person of interest” in the case, was taken into custody at a Jensen St residence in Manoora on Sunday morning and has been charged with manslaughter. She is due to appear in Cairns Magistrates Court today.
Mr Brady worked as an auditor for service stations and flew into Cairns last Monday.
His cousin, Ian Brady, spoke out on behalf of the devastated family, describing him as a “great cousin”.
“All I will say is he was a great cousin, a loyal and loving husband and a man who loved his job,” he said.
Police launched a major investigation into his disappearance, tracking his movements from the Esplanade hotel he had been staying at to a nearby service station on Wednesday night.
They have seized CCTV images as part of their investigation and spoken with numerous nearby businesses.
The hotel where his body was found is just 650m from the Cairns Plaza Hotel, where he had been staying.
Police released images of the 32-year-old old woman on Saturday and alleged she may have been the last person to see Mr Brady alive.
“She is only of interest to us at the moment, she is not a suspect … and I do think she has information that would greatly assist the investigation,” Det Acting Insp Jason Smith said on Saturday. “I call on her to come forward, or any person that has information in regards to this matter, so that we can identify how this man died and give some sort of closure to his family.”
Det Acting Insp Smith said Mr Brady’s body had been at the hotel “at least 24 hours” before being discovered by police.
He said a post mortem examination was also being carried out, which would “reveal more information to police” in regards to his death.
“We identified the location of the body through our own investigations,” he said.