Murder victim Greg Dufty had huge drug debt

MISSING Gold Coast man Gregory Dufty was deeply in debt over drugs, it was revealed yesterday as a former Bandido was charged with his murder.

Murder victim had huge drug debt

MISSING Gold Coast man Gregory Dufty was deeply in debt over drugs, it was revealed yesterday as a former Bandido was charged with his murder.

After a four-month investigation, Lionel Patea, 24, was arrested in relation to the murder of Mr Dufty, 37, who disappeared on July 6, just two months before police ­allege Patea beat Tara Brown, the mother of his child, to death in Molendinar.

He is due to front the Southport Magistrates Court on November 11.

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Mr Dufty’s body has never been found. Patea denies the charge.

Sources confirmed the missing man was a drug user, originally from Darwin and had a large drug debt to a group of men.

The victim at the centre of a Gold Coast homicide investigation Greg Dufty, 37.

“He refused to pay them back. He didn’t have the money,” a source said.

It is understood Dufty met a group of men at a Gold Coast rugby league club a few years ago.

Police allege Patea bludgeoned his ex-girlfriend Ms Brown with a cast-iron water hydrant cover after ramming her car off the road in Molendinar in early September.

Yesterday he was escorted from the Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre to the Brisbane Watchhouse to be charged with the unrelated murder of Mr Dufty.

Lawyer Campbell McCallum, who was with Patea when he was questioned by police, said the evidence against his client at this stage “was unclear”.

He said he understood police, in charging Patea, were relying on a statement from a person who had not been charged.

Patea is transported from Brisbane watch house in relation to the murder of Greg Dufty.

“I understand there is no other evidence linking Lionel to the offence,” Mr McCallum said.

“Lionel has instructed me that he denies any knowledge of the whereabouts of Mr Dufty and denies any involvement in his disappearance.

“I have attended when they have questioned him. Lionel has been co-operating with police.”

A 27-year-old man, also with bikie links, is being extradited from New Zealand to Brisbane today to front Brisbane Magistrates Court tomorrow after also being charged with Mr Dufty’s murder and misconduct of a corpse.

Police yesterday raided seven Gold Coast houses in relation to the murder and are interviewing an additional three males as a result of those raids with more arrests expected.

Mr Dufty was last seen on July 6, when he spent the day with his ex-partner and daughters before visiting a friend.

That night he went to the Ashmore Steak and Seafood restaurant carpark, where he was picked up by an associate in a Mack truck. He was dropped to a second waiting vehicle on Nathan Homestead Rd, Mt Nathan about 9pm and has not been seen since.

Police continue to appeal for public assistance in finding Mr Dufty’s body.

Originally published as Murder victim Greg Dufty had huge drug debt