Man was allegedly murdered in multimillion-dollar house while teens partied

The co-founder of clothing chain Universal Store has died following an alleged stabbing at a Brisbane party attended by dozens of teenagers at a multimillion-dollar home on Thursday night. A teen boy has been charged with murder.

Greg Josephson, 58, was found dead during the house party while about 30 unaware teenagers continued to enjoy themselves downstairs as police arrived.

Police had received an emergency call on Thursday night that a man had been critically injured, and arrived at the house, worth more than $5 million, in Clayfield after 8.15pm.

The house in which Greg Josephson’s body was found on Thursday night.

Police have since found the weapon allegedly used in the stabbing, but would not confirm where it was located or the type.

Josephson, the co-founder of Universal Store, was found dead.Credit: File image

The accused boy also suffered a minor injury, police said.

Josephson, 58, founded the Universal Store in 1999 with his brother Michael, with the first store opening in Carindale, in Brisbane’s eastern suburbs. Their uncle owned the Lee Cooper brand, while their grandfather owned workwear brand Can’t Tear ’Em.

According to his LinkedIn, Josephson also held roles for Westfield and Lend Lease, and was most recently the chief executive of Josephsons Holdings.

The affluent inner-city neighbourhood, about five kilometres north-east of the CBD, was calm on Friday morning.

However, responding police described the scene the night before as chaotic. Crews responding to a triple-zero call found the dead man upstairs at the property.

“When we got here it was quite a chaotic scene. There were about 30 young people here having a party,” Inspector Jane Healy said.

The prestige Clayfield neighbourhood where a house party turned fatal on Thursday night.Credit: William Davis

Detective Acting Superintendent Craig Williams said other teenagers at the property were taken to Boondall police station for questioning, and their parents were called.

He could not confirm where in the property the alleged altercation took place.

Williams would not elaborate on what had taken place earlier in the night, but confirmed police had not been called there in the hours before the fatality.

“It was a confusing situation because it was a party, obviously, and when police turn up at a party it was confusing until obviously all persons present understood what was going on and why police were there,” he said.

A police officer at the crime scene.Credit: William Davis

Williams said a weapon had been found, but he could not confirm where.

“It’s an extremely distressing job, of course, when a young person is involved and any time there’s loss of life, as I said, it’s distressing for the family, it’s distressing for the community and the innocent people at the house who had nothing to do with it,” he said.

“I’m aware there was a triple-zero call to police and that is what caused the initial response. Whether there were other neighbours calling as a result and further calls to police, I’m not sure.”

He said that whether the 8.15pm call came from inside the house was still part of the investigation.

According to police, the boy was found in Barlow Street, several streets away, and officers took him into custody for questioning overnight.

He remained in custody on Friday morning, charged with murder.

Neighbour Francis, who declined to give her surname, has lived on the street for 14 years. Credit: William Davis

Josephson’s family issued a statement through police asking for privacy from media outlets as they did not wish to participate in interviews.

On Friday morning, a small media pack and three police cars were the only signs anything out-of-the-ordinary had occurred in the affluent street.

A neighbour collecting his mail told this masthead there had been a party the previous night, but said it was not loud or disruptive.

Another neighbour, Francis, who declined to give her surname, said she had lived on the street for 14 years, and reported she had never seen or heard the residents.

“Everybody keeps to themselves and minds their own business,” she said on a morning stroll.

“I’m a bit shocked … We’re a very quiet street.”

Wendy, who also did not wish to provide her surname, was staying at her son’s home around the corner.

Police near the crime scene in Clayfield the morning after.Credit: William Davis

“We didn’t see anything or hear anything,” she said.

“This is a beautiful street … and everybody gets on with everybody. They’ll all be horrified.”

Other neighbours said they heard nothing, and first learnt of the stabbing on the morning news.

Police vehicles at the house on Thursday night.Credit: Nine News

The teenager’s case was briefly mentioned in the Children’s Court on Friday morning, where the boy did not appear. The court heard he had been taken to hospital.

The prosecution asked for an eight-week adjournment to prepare the brief of evidence.

His duty lawyer said a Legal Aid application had been taken, but the court heard the boy might be represented privately.

The case was adjourned to September 2.

Universal Store released a statement about 2pm.

“We wanted to share the sad news that Greg Josephson, who founded our company and played a significant role until 2018, has recently passed away,” the company said.

“Our sincere thoughts and condolences are with his family at this very sad time.”

Police asked anyone who might have CCTV or dashcam footage of the area at the time to come forward.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.