Mark-Bry Leedham found guilty of murdering Michael Purse in 2019, but his body is yet to be found

The family of Michael Purse have shared their grief after a third and final man charged over his death learned his fate in court.

For more than 5 years, Jeffrey Purse and his family have mourned the loss of their beloved son and brother Michael.

Over that time, they saw two men jailed for his manslaughter, endured countless court hearings and waited as emergency services scoured the state for Michael’s body.

But after sitting through a murder trial that stretched over two months, they finally received the justice they’d been waiting for.

In the South Australian Supreme Court on Tuesday afternoon, Mark-Bry Andrew Leedham was told he’d spend the mandatory sentence of life in prison for the February 2019 murder of Mr Purse.

Leedham, 27, stood silently as the verdict was read, but the stony face he’d maintained throughout his trial turned to a momentary and subtle flash of shock as Justice Kevin Nicholson read his decision: guilty.

Michael Jeffrey Purse was murdered in 2021.

Michael’s father Jeffrey Purse speaking to media at court at a previous hearing. Picture: NCA NewsWire

In February 2023, Leedham’s co-accused Edwin James Hinrichsen and David Graham Young instead pleaded guilty to manslaughter - a charge accepted by prosecutors - on what was scheduled to be the first day of their murder trial.

Hinrichsen, 39, Young, 42, and Leedham, 27, had originally each pleaded not guilty to having murdered Mr Purse at Kilburn.

The two other killers were jailed for their roles in Michael’s death and disappearance, each with a non-parole period of nine years. They are still behind bars.

During Leedham’s murder trial, the court heard Michael, who was in his early 30s, was taken to an apartment in Kilburn where he was bound with duct tape, viciously beaten and ultimately killed.

29, March, 2023: Police searching along Shepherds Corner Road for the remains of Michael Jeffrey Purse. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Kelly Barnes

“He was punched, kicked, viciously stomped on, stabbed and strangled first with a cord, and after that broke, held in a headlock and killed. He was rolled into a rug, and shoved into the back of a small car where his decomposing body remained for a day or two, before being taken to an unknown grave,” prosecutor Michael Foundas said.

“Leedham brought the now deceased Mr Purse to the apartment in Kilburn where he was killed. He directed Mr Purse be bound with the duct tape. He initiated the violence and he attempted to strangle him with headphones cord, and he plunged a knife into Mr Purse’s restrained and gagged body,” he alleged.

Several search missions across the state were undertaken in the years following Michael’s disappearance, but his body was never found.

Speaking outside court on Tuesday, Jeffrey Purse said Leedham being found guilty of his son’s “cowardly murder” was a “great result”.

“It was an unprovoked attack, Michael was defenceless and this was a great result,” he said.

“It’s been very difficult not knowing where he is, I understand the police are still participating in some searches and using other techniques that will hopefully locate him. It would be great to finally lay him to rest.

“It hasn’t been easy, but this is a life sentence for us as well.”

David Moen, for Leedham, said his client was considering his options – including an appeal – but conceded current legislation means that without a body being found, his client won’t be eligible for parole.

“There is no body. There’s no parole at this stage,” he said.

“I can’t discuss the decision, but (Leedham’s) given instruction to look at an appeal so we’ll go from there.”