Sydney hammer attack accused Matthew Donaldson arrested by police
A man wanted by police for allegedly bashing a sex worker with a sledge hammer inside a Sydney CBD hotel on Tuesday has been found.
NSW
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A man wanted by police for allegedly bashing a sex worker with a sledge hammer inside a Sydney CBD hotel on Tuesday has been found.
Matthew Donaldson, 41, is alleged to have been involved in the attempted murder of a young woman who was found clinging to life at the five star Primus Hotel on Pitt Street.
The woman, who police sources said on Thursday was believed to be a prostitute, was found with devastating injuries after allegedly being assaulted with a sledgehammer.
NSW Police dog squad officers reportedly found Donaldson hiding in bushland at Lapstone, a township in the Blue Mountains on Thursday afternoon.
He has been taken to Penrith Police Station and is expected to be charged later tonight.
WANTED HAMMER ATTACK ACCUSED’S INTEREST IN GUNS
A man wanted by police after allegedly bludgeoning a woman with a sledgehammer inside a Sydney CBD hotel previously posted images of himself brandishing a gun at a shooting range as police work desperately to find him amid fears he could be armed.
Police have been looking for Matthew Donaldson, 41, since Wednesday for the attempted murder of a young woman who was found clinging to life at the five star Primus Hotel on Pitt Street after allegedly being assaulted with a sledgehammer.
Detectives raided Donaldson’s home in Kingswood in Sydney’s west late on Wednesday after a warrant was issued for the former Blaxland High School student and gaming enthusiast, who is believed to be in the Blue Mountains area armed with a firearm. There has not yet been any reported sightings of him.
Images posted on Donaldson’s Facebook page have revealed his fascination with video games and an interest in attending shooting ranges. The alleged assailant previously posted photos of himself firing bullets at a target at St Mary’s Pistol Range. Police have confirmed Donaldson holds a gun licence.
Hours before the alleged attack, Donaldson posted chilling images from inside the hotel of himself playing video games, alongside the caption “game over.” When asked by a friend what he was playing, he said “life or death, I lost.”
The 41-year-old’s Facebook page also reveals a fascination with video games, with his cover photo a screenshot from the game ‘The Last of Us.’ He had also once complained about his loneliness, saying “we sometimes think we want to disappear, but all we really want is to be found.”
A gaming friend of Donaldson on Thursday spoke of his “complete shock” at the news, saying his friend was “never forthcoming about women and relationships. We gamed together so I never knew this side of him and I am in complete shock still,” he said.
The friend said he had called his friend and left a message on his phone on the night of the alleged attack.
The young woman, a 26-year-old, was left with facial, head and abdominal injuries following the horrific attack. She remains in a critical condition at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
Police will on Thursday continue their search for Donaldson with a focus on the Blue Mountains area. They are urging anyone who sees him not to approach him, but to call triple-0.
There have not yet been any sightings of him.
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