Harrington Park dad Johann Schwartz found personal trainer Bradley Soper behind his couch
Friends of a ‘strong man’ who died in a suspected home invasion are baffled over why he was inside the western Sydney home of Johann Schwartz. Bradley Soper was found hiding behind a couch after trashing the Schwartz family lounge room.
The man who died as he was being restrained during a suspected Sydney home invasion was Asia’s Strongest Man in 2017.
Police are now trying to piece together how Bradley Soper died in a Harrington Park house after an alleged altercation with homeowner Johann Schwartz, whose wife and young daughter were upstairs.
Soper, 35, is understood to have trashed the house before business analyst Mr Schwartz found him hiding behind the couch in his living room.
The South African allegedly grabbed the intruder in a chokehold while calling for help and Soper lost consciousness.
Neighbours familiar with CPR came to help but Soper could not be revived.
Friends at a Narellan gym where the 35-year-old trained said the international “strongman”, who ran a business called School of Strong, had suffered the breakdown of his relationship with his girlfriend and was hospitalised with kidney failure in recent months.
“He had some personal issues, like everyone does … there was nothing in his personality that would ever indicate anything like this,” one friend said.
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Another close friend, Peter Tsikas, said Soper was a kind man with an “epic knowledge of the human physique”.
“I’m pretty much in shock to be honest with you. Day to day for three years, we talked, had laughs. Still trying to get my head around it,” he said. “We got to know each other, do business together and he basically, for the first three years of my career, brought me up.”
On December 3, Soper posted an image from his podium finish at the Strongman Champions League event in Goa, India.
“That’s a wrap for the year, settling for 3rd,” he wrote. In 2017, he won the 90kg class of Asia’s Strongest Man event in the same country.
New details emerged on Monday of the bizarre manner in which Soper approached the Schwartz home, clambering barefoot through dense bushland towards the house. He is then understood to have crawled beneath a 60cm-high balustrade instead of simply stepping over it.
The garage door had been left open and police believe that is how Soper entered the south west Sydney property.
One neighbour claimed he saw the man walking “like a zombie”.
Soper’s father told The Daily Telegraph from the family’s home town of Minore, near Dubbo, that he refused to believe the circumstances around his son’s death until after the autopsy.
“We want to wait until the autopsy is done,” he said “What happened is right out of context for Bradley. We believe he was disorientated for some reason and they won’t know until they do the autopsy.”
Police were due to receive the results last night and the cause of death would determine the next steps in the investigation.
On Monday, Mr Schwartz — known among friends and neighbours as Francois — was too distraught to speak about the ordeal but the Harrington Park community was rallying around him.
Cafe owner Michael Nemra said the overwhelming sentiment of customers was in favour of the homeowner.
“They all feel the same. He was just trying to defend his family,” Mr Nemra said.
Criminal barrister Peter Lavac said in general terms residents have the “right to defend their property, the right to defend themselves and the right to defend and protect their family”.
‘No sympathy’ for thieves: invasion victim
According to an AAP report, Johann Schwartz had previously commented that he had no sympathy for thieves who were caught in the act.
A Reddit social media account linked to Mr Schwartz commented on February 3 on a video showing an alleged mobile phone thief being held and pulled alongside a car by someone in the vehicle.
The thief, whose hand was in the car, is repeatedly punched in the head by those said to be the potential victims of the theft.
“If he is committed to crime, he will next time bring a gun and target someone more vulnerable like an 80-year-old,” the Reddit comment states.
“No sympathy. The person on the receiving end of his crime could also be poor, and worked hard at an honest job to buy that phone. What does his theft do to that honest person?”
The comments were made two weeks before the break-in at Mr Schwartz’s home on Sunday.
Criminal defence lawyer Omar Juweinat says a “reasonable person” would likely feel threatened and fear for their family if they disturbed an intruder in their home.
That could form the basis of a legal defence, he said.
“You wake up to find an intruder ... I’d be perplexed if police charged an occupant for defending their family,” Mr Juweinat told AAP on Monday.
“If he was prosecuted it would shake up the law in a way I’ve never seen.” Comment has been sought from Mr Schwartz.
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