DNA link cracks decade-old cold case

Police have made a break through in an 11-year-old crime

The Marburg Post Office.

AN UNSOLVED burglary committed against a rural post office has been solved thanks to DNA evidence taken from an empty liquor bottle.

The glass Barcardi Breezer bottle was found on a refrigerator when detectives examined the scene of a burglary at Marburg Post Office in 2009.

Police Prosecutor Sergeant Paul Caldwell told Ipswich Magistrates Court the post office had been robbed at some time between 5.17pm, June 2 and 5am, June 3.

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“Unknown offenders jimmied open a security grill bar to gain access … Once inside, offenders have attempted to open the safe with an oxy acetylene torch,” Sgt Caldwell said.

“A bowl from the kitchen and a fire extinguisher were located next to the safe.”

The court heard the only thing to go missing was a small child’s piggy bank, which contained a “small amount of cash”, as well as the contents of the Barcardi Breezer.

“(The bottle was) from the inside of the employees’ fridge and that was found on top of the fridge, empty,” Sgt Caldwell said.

DNA found on the bottle was sent to the National Criminal Investigation DNA database for matching.

More than a decade later, the results matched with a man who had lived in Ipswich.

“On September 28, 2020, the department of Health Forensic Scientific Services provided information that the sample gave a full DNA profile which matches the DNA profile of (the defendant).”

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Mark George Carr, 49, from Redbank Plains, appeared in court, pleading guilty to one count of enter premises and commit indictable offence.

Carr’s lawyer Trevor Hoskin told Magistrate Andrew Cridland that his client remembered little about the matter but knew he hadn’t stolen the piggy bank.

“He certainly knows he had nothing to do with the alleged safe breaking. He was there in the company of some other people,” Mr Hoskin said.

“He believed he was drinking the Breezer outside and doesn’t think he went inside but, in any event, he’s accepted full responsibility that he was there.”

Carr was fined $300 and his conviction was not recorded.

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