NEWS: Daily Telegraph - 13/11/2006 'Killed for kicks'

[hoptis]

Killed for kicks
By Kara Lawrence, Police Reporter
November 13, 2006 12:00

TWO men died and more became severely ill after a man incited them to take a mixture of two prescription pills, claiming it would give them a "high", police believe.

The man will next month be called as a "person of interest" at an inquest next month into the deaths of two men in 2004.

Homicide squad detectives believe the man – possibly from Nowra – may be connected to an earlier incident in which a bus passenger became severely ill near Newcastle.

Strike Force Mawarra was set up this April to investigate the deaths of Shaun Bateson, 22, and Brian Hadfield, 29.

Mr Bateson was found unconscious at a boarding lodge in Miranda on May 1, 2004. He was taken to Sutherland Hospital but never regained consciousness and died three days later.

A post-mortem found Mr Bateson had died from "serotonin syndrome" caused by ingesting two anti-depressants: venlafaxine (brand name Effexor) and moclobemide (Aurorix).

On July 15 that year, Brian Hadfield, 29, was staying in a Surry Hills hostel when he became ill, shaking and wild-eyed.

Ambulance officers were called but Mr Hadfield no pulse and could not be revived.

A post-mortem did not find a direct cause of death but toxicology tests found the same two prescription drugs in his system. Neither man was prescribed the drugs.

Police said the "person of interest" had supplied the drugs to the dead men but it was unclear if they had paid for them.

"It appears they've been passed on for recreational use. We have no apparent reason as to why, whether he's being reckless or if he's getting some sort of kick out of it," Detective Inspector Bret Coman said.

Detective Sergeant Bryan Parker said police had been told the man may be linked to another incident in which a bus passenger became ill after consuming the same pills.

The incident occurred between August 2000 and July 2002 in Karuah north of Newcastle, on a bus travelling from Nowra to Port Macquarie.

Police are appealing for the victim, or anyone else with information, to come forward as the timeframe made tracing records difficult.

"The bus just pulled over the Karuah area and was met by an ambulance, and we just assume the bus passenger was conveyed to a hospital in the Newcastle area," Sgt Parker said.

Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or (02) 9384 or 6103.

Daily Telegraph

 

[nikki87]

this is very sad.
people need to be very careful on any drug, but i think sometimes there's this attitude of prescription drugs as being less dangerous because its given out by a doctor.
my grandpa takes effexor, but its prescribed to him by his doctor.

 

[B9]

Mixtures of drugs can be very dodgy or alternately life saving ! Knowledge is yours and your paramedics friend!







zoph

 

[sonicnature]

I was under the impression that most well-informed drug users/researchers knew that these two drugs combined causes serotonin syndrome.

If this person can be identified, and it was proven that they knew of the effects of these substances combined, would it be murder?

 

[Biscuit]

Quite possibly. Depends on his intent at the time. But at the absolute lowest he would be looking at manslaughter.

Generally if someone causes the death of another through their own criminal negligence (requires a degree of recklessness which would easily be satisfied in your example) they are responsible for killing that person, regardless of the intent they held at the time --> manslaughter.

What makes this more unusual is that this inidividual appears to have gone out of his way to suggest to various persons to take this cocktail and then actually provide those substances. It makes his culpability more serious in my view, whether it amounts to murder though is difficult to say without more info.

 

[hoptis]

Man arrested, charged with manslaughter
By Sarah Taylor
February 09, 2007 02:00am

A 36-year-old man has been arrested and charged with manslaughter in connection with a series of poisonings that left two people dead.

The man was arrested by homicide detectives shortly after 1.30pm (AEDT) yesterday at Burrier, near the southern NSW town of Nowra.

Shaun Bateson and Brian Hadfield, both 22 and of Sydney, died in 2004 after taking a mixture of two anti-depressant drugs.

Detectives said last year that they believed the drugs "may have been provided by a person known to them".

Bateson was found unconscious on May 1, 2004, in the southern Sydney suburb of Miranda. He was taken to hospital but never regained consciousness.

The following month, Hadfield, who was staying at a hostel in central Sydney, fell unconscious and was unable to be revived.

A police spokesman would not confirm reports that a third death was being investigated, or that the six victims had been urged to take anti-depressants to experience a "high".

Strike Force Mawarra has also linked the two deaths to the poisoning of a man travelling on a bus between Nowra and Port Macquarie several years earlier.

"A witness has told police the bus was forced to meet an ambulance in the Karuah area, north of Newcastle, after a passenger became unwell," police said in a statement released in November last year.

"It's believed the bus passenger, possibly a male, was taken to hospital after consuming prescription pills that were possibly supplied to him by a fellow passenger."

The statement said detectives had not been able to identify the sick passenger.

The Australian

 

[lil angel15]

Suspect killer's toxic pill mix
February 09, 2007 07:22am

HOMICIDE detectives yesterday arrested a man who is suspected of killing at least two people and making six more seriously ill by urging them to take a toxic mix of pills.

The killings include the death of two men in Sydney in 2004 and police have also investigated reports of a third death in the Nowra or Port Macquarie area.

Police have as yet been unable to find coroner's records to confirm their fears of the third death.

Daniel Charles Riley, 36, was arrested at 1.30pm in his parents' caravan at a park in Burrier, 20km from Nowra, by homicide squad detectives and local police who had been scouring the area since Wednesday.

Police will allege Riley gave the victims the drugs knowing they would cause harm and in some cases remained at the scene to see them fall ill.

Riley also allegedly visited the hospitals where some victims were taken.

It is believed the Nowra man also targeted up to six other people, including a teenage girl
persuading them to take toxic pills "for fun" between 2000 and 2005.

One incident involved a 22-year-old woman who consumed a mix of prescription drugs at a house in Taree in 2000. She was in a critical condition for six days.

In another incident, in January 2005, Riley allegedly targeted two men aged 20 and 40, as well as a 17-year-old girl.

They also took a combination of drugs over several days during a road trip from Nowra to Sydney and back.

The younger man and girl were admitted to hospital and the older man said he was ill at home for two days.

The victims suffered serotonin syndrome, which in severe cases shuts down organs and can cause death.

The cases are believed to have been caused by Riley allegedly supplying the victims with two anti-depressants that, taken together, increase the risk of serotonin syndrome.

The pills involved are venlafaxine and moclobemide. Neither of the two dead men was prescribed the drugs.

It is believed the victims took the drugs at the urging of Riley, who allegedly insisted they would experience a "high".

One victim, Shaun Bateson, 22, was found unconscious in a boarding lodge in Miranda in May 2004. He was taken to Sutherland Hospital but remained in a coma and died three days later.

His father Albert Bateson told The Daily Telegraph doctors said his son had suffered massive kidney damage.

"The doctors said (the pills) had just put his heart rate up to blazes and caused a high temperature," he said.

"The doctor's words were that the heart, the brain and all the organs had had an insult. They basically said there wasn't much hope."

The second victim, Brian Hadfield, 29, died only six weeks later in a Surry Hills hostel. Ambulance officers found no pulse and could not revive him.

Mr Hadfield's brother Charles Hadfield said people in the hostel reported he had been acting out of character.

"They said he was aggressive, which was totally out of character. They said he was trying to box with people and Brian didn't like violence," he said.

Riley is expected to be charged with two counts of manslaughter and four counts of using poison to endanger life.

Officers yesterday raided the caravan where Riley was arrested and seized and number of items, but no drugs.

The Daily Telegraph spoke to Riley's father, who was present at the time of his son's arrest. The distraught man said he did not know what he was going to do and did not wish to discuss the case further.

Police are still trying to find one suspected victim who fell ill and had to be taken off a bus some time between 2000 and 2002 from Nowra to Port Macquarie. Officers are also investigating a fresh report of a man who fell ill but did not wish to discuss the case.

Police believe there may be more victims who have experienced similar incidents and are appealling for them to come forward. They are also appealing for anyone who has any information about any of the cases to contact them.

Strike Force Mawarra was set up in April last year to investigate the deaths of Mr Bateson and Mr Hadfield.

While the two cases had been due to go to inquest late last year, a story about them published in The Daily Telegraph in November led to a rash of new cases being uncovered in the Nowra area.

News.com.au

 

[Biscuit]

Good to hear they got him.

A disturbing case. If the police could learn more about what his actual motivations were (in my view they sound very sinister), the case looks more like one involving a serial murderer or someone of that type of persuasion!