Torso found on Sydney beach showed drug link suggesting criminal activity, court told

[Jabberwocky]

This black bedsheet was used to wrap the torso of an unknown man and was found in a bag washed up in Botany Bay. The victim’s identity remains unknown.

STRONG traces of cocaine found in a man’s torso washed up in Botany Bay strongly suggests the man’s death is linked to criminal activity and drug smuggling, the NSW Coroner’s Court has found.

The mutilated body of the still-unidentified man was found by prison inmates cleaning part of Kyeemagh Beach in Sydney’s south on January 27, 2012, but extensive police investigations and multiple DNA searches have drawn blanks.

“The detection of cocaine in the liver and bowel, coupled with the incision wound to the abdomen tend to suggest that the deceased could have been concealing drugs internally for the purposes of illegal couriering,” coroner Derek Lee said in his findings on Thursday.

A 22.5kg dumbbell was used to weigh down the torso wrapped in a bedsheet.
The corpse was found stuffed in a black fitted sheet, with head, neck, arms and legs cut off.

It was weighed down by a 22.5kg weight and tied with a silver chain before being dumped in the sea, police say.

No additional body parts were found but a burnt-out Holden ute was discovered seven days before the torso’s discovery, close to where police think the body was dumped.

While the coroner was unable to ascertain the cause of death, high levels of cocaine could have led to a drug overdose.

“The toxicological findings raise the possibility of a cocaine-related death,” advocate assisting the coroner, Deb Williamson, told the court.

The way the limbs were detached suggests the killer or killers knew what they were doing, Mr Lee said.

“The surfaces at the points where the amputations were performed were smoothly sawn or cut which suggest some care and skill was required by the person or persons who did this.”

The police investigation identified a drug syndicate based in the area where the torso was found.

A member of the group was also linked to the burnt-out vehicle found near the supposed dumping ground.

The torso is described as belonging to a heavily built man of European ancestry and aged between 23 and 57.

The case will be referred to the unsolved unit of the NSW homicide squad for further investigation.



Source: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...d/news-story/4937e9809910892a52ea0b52391ef3a6

 

[Jabberwocky]

'His head, neck, arms and legs had been removed with care and skill': Mysterious floating torso found at a Sydney beach four years ago was a drug mule cut open to get cocaine that was hidden inside him

A man's torso that washed up on a Sydney beach four years ago is believed to have been cut open to remove drugs that were hidden inside of him, an inquest has found.

The man's head, neck, arms and legs had been removed with 'care and skill'.

The torso - wrapped in a black fitted sheet, bound by chains and tied to a barbell weight - washed up on Kyeemagh Beach, in Sydney's south, in January 2012.

Police still do not know who the person was and who was responsible for his death.

During an inquest on Thursday, police said the torso carried high levels of cocaine traces and had been sliced from a nipple to the pubic bone.

'The detection of cocaine in the liver and bowel, coupled with the incision wound to the abdomen tend to suggest that the deceased could have been concealing drugs internally for the purposes of illegal couriering,' coroner Derek Lee said in his findings at the NSW Coroner's Court.

The police investigation also found a family criminal syndicate was based in the area where the torso was found, and had been linked to illegal drug importation.

Just seven days before the torso was discovered, a burnt-out Holden ute was spotted near the area where the remains were believed to have been dumped.

The car was linked to a member of the criminal syndicate in April 2011.

The torso had been weighed down by a rusted 22.5kg barbell weight, a calculated move from his killers, Mr Lee said.

'Those responsible obviously hoped that the torso would not rise to the surface and be discovered,' he said.

None of the man's other limbs were found, despite police and the dive squad searching the area extensively.

The way the limbs were detached suggested the killers knew what they were doing, Mr Lee said.

'The surfaces at the points where the amputations were performed were smoothly sawn or cut which suggest that some care and skill was required by the person or persons who did this,' he said.

Three separate searches in the missing persons database and continued DNA searches have not been able to identify the man.

Police believe he was aged between 25-57, heavily built and of European descent.

The case will be referred to the unsolved homicide unit of the NSW homicide squad for further investigation.


Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-trafficking-coroner-finds.html#ixzz499EpvalM

 

[Jabberwocky]

Amazing how far people would go to get their drugs.

My theory is one of the pellets exploded, these guys panicked then chopped up their dead friend to get the drugs inside him.

 

[Mind-Melt]

Wow, that first picture in noonoo's post is very unsettling. I wish the war on drugs would end so that stuff like this would (possibly) stop happening.

Sadly, your theory is probably right, noonoo.