NSW man facing extradition to Queensland after body found in box in Brisbane unit
A foreign national living in Sydney could be charged with murder after a badly decomposed body was found in a container in the inner Brisbane apartment he was renting.
Queensland police DI Tim Trezise says officers found the body wrapped in a sheet inside a sealed metal box on the balcony of the Hamilton unit on Monday afternoon.
He said the detectives had been probing the disappearance of a 30-yearold female foreign national, reported missing to New South Wales police weeks ago.
A 26-year-old man who lives in south Sydney but is still renting the Brisbane apartment has been arrested and is facing extradition to Queensland.
“An arrest warrant in Queensland has now been sworn in relation to one charge of murder in relation to the missing person,” Trezise said.
“Obviously investigations both forensically and evidentiary by the detectives will continue for some days and weeks in relation to strengthening the case.”
He said the body has not been identified yet because it was too decomposed to work out gender or age.
“Exactly who that person is is yet to be determined; by the end of the day we’ll have a post mortem,” he said.
The missing woman had been seen at the Hamilton apartment about two months ago, along with the man.
The woman’s mother, who lives in another country, reported her missing after she stopped making contact with her.
Trezise said the woman and the man were not in a romantic relationship. After months of trying to find the man, Queensland detectives finally managed to call him on Monday afternoon.
He told them he was living at Mascot in south Sydney and he didn’t know where the woman was.
“Initially he indicated to police over the telephone that he didn’t know the whereabouts of the missing person, and hadn’t seen her for some months,” he said.
“I believe he stated words to the effect of: ‘I think she’s moved interstate’.”
Queensland police collaborated with NSW detectives, who went to the man’s Mascot home as their northern counterparts visited the Hamilton unit where they found the body.
Trezise said the body was wrapped in a cloth, with one foot visible.
“So I don’t know, I can’t report whether there’s any signs of trauma or anything else at this stage, the body was still in there, in the box, and the box has been taken in situ to the John Tonge Centre for the post mortem.”
The man was due to face an extradition hearing in Sutherland magistrates court in Sydney on Tuesday.