Mario Giovanni Merlo: Ipswich man died after falling from apartment block had long criminal history

A 42-year-old who fell 13 storeys to his death while fleeing police on Wednesday was jailed for a brutal assault that left the victim needing 16 titanium plates inserted into his face, it can be revealed. He was well known to authorities.

Mario Merlo died after falling from the balcony of his 13th floor unit in Ipswich on Wednesday morning.

The Ipswich man who fell to his death from a high-rise apartment complex on Wednesday morning while fleeing from police failed to show up to a scheduled court appearance on drugs and weapon charges the day before.

Mario Giovanni Merlo, who was previously jailed for five years for the brutal assault of another man which left him needing 16 titanium plates inserted into his face, died after plunging from the balcony of his 13th storey unit.

He was well known to police, with an extensive criminal history that included serious assault.

Police officers at the pool area of The Oaks Ipswich Aspire Suites on Wednesday morning. Photo: Ross Irby

The Ethical Standards Command is investigating the death of Mr Merlo, 42, after he landed in the pool area of The Oaks Ipswich Aspire Suites.

Police had gone to his apartment to make inquiries with him that morning.

Residents in the CBD unit building are understandably shaken from the shocking incident.

Mr Merlo faced five counts of being in possession of dangerous drugs; unlawful possession of restricted drugs; not having authority to possess explosives (ammunition); and breach of bail conditions in the Ipswich Magistrates Court.

Previous court appearances revealed he had worked in the construction industry as a pipe layer and in a drainage business. and his house was destroyed by fire in 2015 while he was living in Lowood.

Police alleged while firefighters battled the flames, Mr Merlo allegedly confronted residents at a house down the road about the fire.

After a heated dispute, Merlo allegedly got in his car and steered his vehicle into the front yard at the house and its occupants.

In 2007 he was jailed for five years after pleading guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm and causing grievous bodily harm to two men in separate incidents a month apart.

Mario Giovanni Merlo outside Ipswich Courthouse in 2020.

The Brisbane District Court heard he was in a consensual fist fight in Fortitude Valley with another man when he punched him twice in the back of his head, causing skull fractures, after the other man had already fallen to the ground.

While on bail for this assault, Mr Merlo bashed another man at the Lowood Hotel a month later.

The man needed 16 titanium mini plates inserted in his face to fix multiple facial fractures and had no recollection of the incident, the court heard.

The victim’s left orbital floor had to be reconstructed and he lost a number of teeth.

Mr Merlo’s then lawyer said his client had four previous convictions for assault occasioning bodily harm in the late 1990s, for which he had spent time in prison.

In 2009, Mr Merlo was ordered to pay the victim $42,000 in compensation for the “physical and psychological injuries” he inflicted.

“Mr Merlo punched (the man) repeatedly to the head and face at a tavern,” then District Court Judge Fleur Kingham stated in her decision.

The victim fell to the ground, either from the punches or the fall or both.

“It was a vicious attack which resulted in multiple head fractures.”

Read more stories by Lachlan McIvor here.