Inquest into deaths of Brisbane chef, partner

UPDATE: One of the first officers to enter the unit of a Brisbane chef who allegedly killed and dismembered his partner has told an inquest he thought he had stumbled on a “sick prank”. WARNING: GRAPHIC

ONE of the first officers to enter Marcus Volke and Mayang Prasetyo’s Teneriffe unit exclaimed “oh shit” after seeing feet protruding from a crock pot on the floor of the kitchen.

Harrowing footage has been shown to an inquest examining the deaths of the chef and his girlfriend, captured by officers conducting a welfare check at the Commerical Rd apartment.

The officers went to the unit on the night of October 4, 2014, after a building manager described a strange smell and reported not having seen Ms Prasetyo - also known as Febri Andriansyah - for several days.

Senior Constable Bryan Reid and Constable Liam McWhinney chatted to the building manager after arriving at the complex, who warned them there were dogs at Mr Volke’s apartment and he’d spotted a large number of cleaning products inside.

The apartment building where Marcus Volke and Mayang Prasetyo lived in Teneriffe, in Brisbane’s inner suburbs.

The footage, captured by both officers from body worn cameras, shows them knocking on the apartment door and Mr Volke, looking tired and breathing heavily, eventually opening the door.

The officers explain they are conducting a welfare check, that there had been reports of a strange smell and concerns that Ms Prasetyo had not been seen in some time.

“She’s not here,” Mr Volke told the officers, after coming into the hallway and closing the door behind him.

Asked where she had gone, he replied “I have no idea”.

“She cut my hand. I had to go to hospital,” Mr Volke said, showing the officers his heavily bandaged hand.

Marcus Volke answered the door to police, who were visiting his unit to carry out a welfare check.

“She’s just gotten crazier and crazier. She threatened me with a knife. I tried to get it off her.”

“Why didn’t you call police if she’s attacked you with a knife?” Constable McWhinney could be heard asking.

“I just went straight to the hospital.”

The officers explain that they are just there to check on Mr Volke’s welfare and that of Ms Prasetyo.

“You’re alright?” they ask, to which Mr Volke is heard responding: “Well, I need surgery, but yeah.”

Counsel assisting the coroner, Emily Cooper, asked one of the officer, Senior Constable Reid, if Mr Volke’s behaviour at that point had been concerning.

“He seemed a bit, to me, tired - that sort of look,” he said.

“He was breathing hard but no, at that point not really.”

But Constable McWhinney told the inquest Mr Volke shut down when told the officers would be entering the apartment to check whether Ms Prasetyo was inside.

Both officers said they believed they had done the right thing in allowing Mr Volke to go back inside to secure his dogs.

Marcus Volke and Mayang Prasetyo.

Senior Constable Reid said at that time they had no idea how big the dogs were or whether they would become aggressive if they entered the unit.

He said he was not expecting Mr Volke to close and lock the door behind him.

“I was surprised when the the door started to shut and unfortunately I just didn’t make a decision quick enough,” Sen Const Reid said.

“I was thinking ... foot in door foot in door and then the door just closed, so it was too late.

Inside the Teneriffe home where Marcus Volke and Mayang Prasetyo lived.

As soon as the door clicked, and we heard that distinctive clicking noise, I became more concerned at that point.”

The officers waited outside for several minutes, with Sen Const Reid at one point pressing his ear against the door.

He told the court he heard movement from inside the apartment but a moment later, a building manager shouted at them that he had seen Mr Volke fleeing out the back door.

The officers gave chase but lost Mr Volke in an alleyway.

The inquest was then shown more footage of the officers returning to the apartment and entering through the front door.

Marcus Volke.

Mayang Prasetyo

The could be seen checking the bathroom, a hallway cupboard and a hidden laundry, where Sen Const Reid found a garbage bag inside the washing machine.

But it was Constable McWhinney who found Ms Prasetyo’s partial remains inside a crockpot on the kitchen floor.

“Oh shit,” he could be heard saying.

“Here we go.”

The footage showed him pointing to the pot before shouting: “Outside! Outside!”

“Originally I thought it was some kind of sick prank,” Constable McWhinney told the inquest.

“There was a potential blood pool on the base of the fridge ... putting two and two together it didn’t seem like a harmless prank.”

Marcus Peter Volke and Mayang Prasetyo.

Sen Const Reid told the inquest it had all happened very quickly.

“What I remember mostly from that is that It was human feet, well it was feet, and they were quite white,” he said.

“I remember thinking, in miliseconds I guess, are those real feet, because they were very, very white.

“And then just as fast you’re thinking, you’re starting to connect the dots. There’s a smell, he’s taken off running, no one has seen the female for a few days ... and there’s blood on the floor.”

Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467.

MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78.

Multicultural Mental Health Australia www.mmha.org.au.

Local Aboriginal Medical Service available from www.vibe.com.au. National domestic violence helpline: 1800 737 732 or 1800RESPECT.