Olympic gold medallist Chantelle Newbery to give evidence in Jason Guise suspicious death inquest

An Olympic gold medallist will be called to give evidence at the inquest into the suspicious death of a man whose body was found in a pit at a Brisbane sewerage plant.

An Olympic gold medallist will be called to give evidence at the inquest into the suspicious death of Jason Guise whose body was found in a pit at a Wynnum sewerage plant.

Champion diver Chantelle Newbery who took gold in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games will be one of several friends and associates called to give evidence at the inquest which is due to start on October 25.

Mr Guise’s death is being treated as a suspected murder by police.

A pre-inquest at Brisbane Coroners Court on Tuesday heard Mr Guise’s decomposing body was found floating face down in a wet well at the sewerage plant on May 8 2019.

Counsel assisting the Coroner Sarah Lio-Willie said Mr Guise was last seen alive on Easter Sunday April 21.

Ex Olympian diver Chantelle Newbery in a Facebook post with Jason Guise.

She said it was not possible on the evidence to say how Mr Guise died or ended up in the wet well.

“But what can be understood from the evidence is ... it is not possible for Mr Guise to have climbed into the wet well and closed the lid over himself,” she said.

Ms Lio-Willie said police believed Mr Guise was murdered and had “theorised some potential motives for his death but none have been confirmed.”

Mr Guise was known to police and had been released from jail on parole just six weeks before his body was found.

He was a user of methamphetamine and the drug was found in his body following a post-mortem, the hearing heard.

Mr Guise’s family requested a man, who allegedly started driving Mr Guise’s V8 Holden shortly after he went to jail, to be called as a witness.

Barrister Mitch Rawlings, for Caxton Legal Centre which is representing the family’s interests, told the hearing Raymond Gibson had questions to answer.

Mr Rawlings said Mr Gibson’s name had come from other witness statements but he had not been subject to police inquiries.

“It seems that Mr Gibson, soon after (Mr Guise) went into jail, started using the deceased’s motor vehicle, a VH Holden Statesman,” Mr Rawlings said.

“It seems that there has been a motive on the face of the brief, that is before the coroner now, that just hasn’t been subject of police inquiry to date and effectively it is questions that need to be answered by Mr. Raymond Gibson.”

Coroner Donald MacKenzie included Mr Gibson on the witness list.

Mr Rawlings also sought a more detailed toxicology analysis to see if Mr Guise had been given a “hot shot” of drugs.

“That could be another theory if there is then a finding of murder,” he said.

Mr MacKenzie said it was “very difficult” to distinguish a hot shot from an overdose but asked Mr Rawlings to submit questions about it.

A “hot shot” is, unbeknown to the user, an intentionally lethal injection of drugs.

Chantelle Newbery with her gold medal. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images for FINA)

Chantelle Newbery in action at the Athens Olympics. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images for FINA)

Ms Lio-Willie told the hearing many of Mr Guise’s associates had a similar background.

The inquest will seek to answer how, where and when Mr Guise died, what caused his death and identify any others involved.

“To this day Mr Guise’s family do not know how or why he died,” she said.

“Despite a police investigation and a renewed public appeal in February of this year there are still no answers or any new leads to get to the truth of how Mr Guise’s body ended up in (wet well) 33.”