Source : the age
A body found buried in a shallow grave in a backyard south of Brisbane is believed to be a 46-year-old man missing since 2022, with a carpenter and sales assistant known to him now charged with murder.
New information led police to search the property in Bethania, near Logan, on Monday.
There, a box buried under a cubby house was found with human remains. Police suspect they are those of 46-year-old Chad Bishop, who was last seen at a Beenleigh address in March 2022.
Two people – 52-year-old Bethania man Courtenay Williams and 45-year-old Windaroo woman Carlie Rochelle Mordue – have been charged with murder and interference with a corpse.
Police allege the pair murdered Bishop in a Beenleigh townhouse on or about March 2, 2022.
They were not required to appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Tuesday, when their case was briefly mentioned, and will remain behind bars.
An autopsy to establish the exact cause of death and to formally identify the body will be conducted in coming days, but police said Bishop’s family had been notified of the finding.
“We’ve updated the family in relation to this development. The family understand that formal identification is yet to occur, but they’re very grateful for the ongoing investigation,” said Detective Inspector Ian Galpin of the Logan District Criminal Investigation Branch.
“This has been a lengthy and complex investigation, which has spanned in excess of four years. However, detectives have remained committed to establishing the exact circumstances of this man’s disappearance.”
Williams and Mordue were not currently living at the Bethania property where the body was found, Galpin said, but police believe they were known to Bishop.
“Our investigation would suggest that if the person whose remains we have located is who we believe it to be, they are known to the persons that we have charged,” Galpin said.
A possible relationship between Mordue and Bishop was also being explored.
Police did not elaborate on a motive or any weapons discovered while searching the property.
Two people were present at the Bethania home on Monday. Police do not believe they had any involvement in the murder.
With AAP
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