Logan’s most shocking killers, the victims and families left behind: Where are they now?
These are the most shocking deaths of the past 10 years to rock Logan and where those responsible are now.
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There have been 32 murders in the Logan district since 2015 and close to 100 since 2001, according to Queensland Police crime statistics.
Attempted murder, conspiracy to murder and manslaughter fall under the category of other homicide, and the Logan area has seen 54 of these offences in the same period.
Here we look at the most horrific and disturbing deaths in Logan within the last 10 years, how their cases impacted the families involved and where the killers that were brought to justice are now.
Murder of Tiahleigh Palmer
Twelve-year-old Tiahleigh Palmer was tragically murdered by her foster father Rick Thorburn in 2015 at their Chambers Flat home.
A horrific crime that was matched only by its shocking cover up and conspiracy in the family, revealed years later in court.
Police became aware that Palmer's foster-brother Trent Thornburn had sex with Tiahleigh days prior to her disappearance and the family worried she may be pregnant.
His father was evidently acting to cover up his son’s crimes.
The plot only thickened when Rick Thornburn revealed in 2021 he suffocated the 12-year-old, dumped her body in the river and then constructed an elaborate lie that she had gone missing after school.
Trent and foster mother Julene Thorburn went along with the deceit and were found guilty of perjury and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
They both received jail sentences for their role in the cover up and Trent was jailed for four years for incest.
Rick was sentenced to life in prison in 2018, a minimum of 20 years and will not be eligible for parole until 2038.
Toolbox murders
In 2016, Corey Breton and Iuliana Triscaru were lured to a home at Kingston where they were bound, tortured, beaten and cut with knives before being forced into a toolbox and thrown into Scrubby Creek.
The court heard Tepuna Tupuna Mariri had encouraged the pair to come to his unit, helped in detaining and torturing them and helped push Ms Triscaru back into the toolbox when she tried to escape.
Mariri also helped load the toolbox on to a ute and also ordered the windows and doors of the home be closed so the victims’ screams could not be heard.
He pleaded guilty in Brisbane Supreme Court to two counts of torture and two counts of manslaughter for the callous display.
Justice David Boddice said the torture of the victims was sustained and brutal.
“Your conduct has caused indescribable grief to the loved ones of those victims,” he said.
“They will never recover from that loss.”
He sentenced Mariri to 13 years imprisonment, declaring the 1619 days already spent in custody since his arrest in February 2016 as time already served.
Marira continues to serve out his sentence at Borallon Training and Correctional Centre in the Somerset Region
Aunty shakes baby niece to death
Sandra Leigh Houston inflicted fatal head injuries on her five-month-old niece, whom she shook and threw on the ground in a rage, later left the little girl to die alone in hospital, not even returning when the infant’s life support was switched off.
Houston took in her two young nieces including five-month-old Senah after the death of their mother and her twin sister in 2018.
Senah had 38 injuries when she died on November 19,2018 including fractured ribs likely caused by her being hit on the stomach.
The five-month old baby had fractures to both her legs caused by her nappy being forcefully changed in the weeks before her death.
Houston pleaded guilty to manslaughter, child cruelty and grievous bodily harm over her treatment of Senah.
Justice Thomas Bradley sentenced Houston in Brisbane Supreme Court to nine years imprisonment and made a serious violent offender declaration, meaning she had to serve 80 per cent of the sentence behind bars before being eligible for parole.
Houston is serving her prison sentence at Brisbane Women’s Correctional Centre in Wacol.
The court heard that Houston’s husband Jason Michael Bowman came into the room before the five-month-old’s death and noticed she needed her nappy changed.
When he picked her up, she started “crying hysterically” before going “limp, cold and floppy” and he took her to the hospital alongside Houston.
Their actions were too late and could not prevent her tragic death.
‘I am the murder express’
Paul John Conoley was jailed for life in February for the brutal, unprovoked murder of an anonymous grandfather on a Logan street in 2019.
The 44-year-old Woodridge homeless man set upon Steven Church, a beloved grandfather of five, while high on drugs, stomped and killed him and tried to hide his body in a bin.
Neighbours saw the entire ordeal and he was arrested by police, disturbingly yelling “I am the murder express” and “no guts, no glory”.
Mr Church’s brother Christian was present in the courtroom, wiping tears from his eyes and said such a sentence could never replace Steven’s life.
“What do you say to someone that’s murdered your brother?” he asked.
“Steven could have lived for another 40 years.”
Conoley pleaded guilty to murder and was jailed for life at Borallon Training and Correctional Centre.
The court heard he had a history of psychotic disturbances and drug addiction – sparked by financial strain during his marriage and the death of a relative.
Teen girlfriend’s body in a barrel
Zlatko Sikorsky, 37, was accused of murdering his 16-year-old girlfriend Larissa Beilby in 2018, with a pathologist describing the teenager’s injuries as unlike anything she’d ever seen.
Larissa had left home and was living in a safe house when she met Sikorsky through a friend.
She was reported missing to police by her father and authorities tracked her to a Buccan property.
Sikorsky allegedly fled from the Logan house in a ute, dumping the vehicle in Stapylton before disappearing.
When police found the ute, they made the horror discovery of Larissa’s body in a barrel on the rear tray.
Sikorsky died in his prison cell at Wacol Correctional Centre on November 10, 2020 after being brutally bashed by a fellow inmate.
He collapsed and smashed his head on the floor, forensics later revealing they could not be sure if the assault or the fall caused his death.
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