Families unite in rage and grief over house of horrors deaths

Two families joined together by harrowing grief have slammed a man whose residence became a house of horrors where two men met their violent ends as “weak” and a “coward”.

Lachlan Griffiths was reported missing in late January 2022.

Two families joined together by harrowing grief have excoriated the man whose residence became a house of horrors where two men met their violent ends- one never to be seen again and the other discovered entombed in concrete.

The “coward” David Lee Tan, 42, faced Brisbane’s Supreme Court for the manslaughter of Lachlan James Griffiths and for being an accessory after the fact to the murder of Andrew Christopher Walsh.

Both men were killed in brutal circumstances at Tan’s business premises-come-home on Musgrave Road Coopers Plains.

Mr Griffiths remains have never been located.

The court heard Mr Walsh was killed at the business in November 2021 “over gossip”.

Others fatally attacked Mr Walsh and while Tan, who was there when the victim was stabbed, played no part in luring him there or inflicting physical violence he cleaned up the scene and helped encase Mr Walsh in concrete in the days after and again in the following February.

In January 2022 Mr Griffiths was lured to the business site by Billy Lee Bornstein, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter on Monday, under the direction of Filip Grbavac who was subsequently killed in jail.

In the days prior Tan, in text messages with Grbavac, spoke of his marriage breakdown and said “if you can grab him (Mr Griffiths) f**k I’ll be more than happy to come with you bro and release some of this f*****g anger”, the court heard.

Ultimately it was Grbavac who meted out all of the violence to Mr Griffiths and killed him. Tan was present for some of it but did not inflict any of the violence, the court heard. He is being sentenced on the basis that his presence provided support to Grbavac.

Photos of Mr Griffiths, whose remains have never been found, were located on Tan’s phone with the victim wrapped in plastic.

Like Bornstein, Tan was initially charged with Mr Griffiths’ murder but pleaded guilty to the downgraded charge of manslaughter.

It was Mr Griffiths’ disappearance that led police to Tan’s business where they discovered Mr Walsh buried in concrete.

Mr Griffiths’ mother spoke of the anguish of being told her son’s body had been found only to be informed later it was the remains of somebody else.

“The horror at the thought of what on earth was this place that Lachie had been taken to,” she told the court on Thursday.

“Then a feeling of relief for another family.”

Andrew Christopher Walsh.

She spoke of seeing the photos on Tan’s phone of her son “wrapped in plastic ready for disposal”.

“This is beyond my understanding of how humans can treat each other. This knowledge broke me.”

Mr Griffiths’ brother spoke with rage in his victim impact statement.

“No one should have to endure what you put my brother through. You don’t have the right to play God,” he said.

Mr Walsh’s father told Justice Frances Williams that the pain of losing his son was unbearable.

“The silent pain and loss is unrelenting,” he said.

“It remains constantly present waiting to be ignited with a memory.”

Crown prosecutor Chris Cook asked the court to impose 17 years jail.

“This is a man without remorse,” he said.

Tan’s barrister Malcolm Harrison said his client was a coward who had been acting out of fear in relation to both homicides.

“He acted out of fear because he is a weak man,” he said.

Mr Harrison said his client was heavily involved in drugs at the time and his marriage was breaking down.

Four character references by family and a friend spoke positively of him, the court heard.

Justice Williams adjourned the case for sentence at a later date.