Mystery body dumped in Sydney identified
A PART-TIME barista whose body was found wrapped in material may have been held and tortured for over a week before being dumped by the side of a Sydney road. LISTEN TO THE PRESS CONFERENCE.
NSW
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A PART-TIME barista whose body was found wrapped in material may have been held and tortured for over a week before being dumped by the side of a Sydney road
Police found Wachira ‘Mario’ Phetmang bound and gagged and wrapped in plastic covered with a mattress protector near Sydney Olympic Park.
Mr Phetmang, who worked part-time as a barista at Starbucks at Hurstville, was a total “cleanskin’’ with no criminal record at all and only had one traffic infringement issued against him.
“The forensic evidence suggests that he had only been dead a few days when the body was found,’’ a senior detective said.
LISTEN TO THE POLICE PRESS CONFERENCE
Police said there was no activity on his phone or bank accounts after May 25 leading them to believe he may have been held somewhere or gone into hiding for some reason.
“His murder and body disposal has all the hallmarks of an organised crime killing which we can’t reconcile his lifestyle, ‘’ he said.
An investigation will look at his personal relationships and also look into information suggesting that he was a user of party drugs, but there is no evidence at this stage to suggest he was involved in the supply of drugs.
Police are working on the theory he was killed soon after the last sighting of him at the service station before he was reported missing by his sister on June 3.
A post mortem examination revealed Mr Phetmang had been seriously assaulted, and his cause of death was blunt-force trauma.
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Police suspect the murder could have been carried out by more than one person.
Speaking at a press conference this morning Homicide Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Scott Cook said they were talking to Mario’s friends associates but had “no firm suspect at this stage”.
“The time of death is a little bit ambiguous given he was by the roadway for some time. We are not sure probably two or three days perhaps,” Det Supt Cook said.
“We have a number of lines of inquiries. We are looking into his associates, his friends, we are looking into his activities, everything that we can.”
Their inquiries have revealed Mr Phetmang had been in the Sydney CBD and the Guildford area during the day on Thursday, May 24 with his last known sighting at a service station on King Georges Road at South Hurstville about 7.30pm on Friday, May 25
Police have released CCTV of Mr Phetmang arriving at the service station which they hope will refresh someone’s memory.
“Strike Force Sinder investigators are continuing to piece together Mario’s final movements and would like to speak to anyone who may have seen him that Friday night,” Det Supt Cook said.
“Mario travelled to and from the service station in a silver 2004 Hyundai Terracan, with Victorian registration URK109, which we have not yet located.
“At this stage, we do not know where Mario went after leaving the service station, and we are appealing for information about his movements from then until his body was located almost two weeks later.
“We are particularly appealing to motorists who have dash cameras to review their footage to see if they may have filmed the vehicle during that time.
“This includes a re-appeal to motorists who travelled in the Sydney Olympic Park area during that time to double check their vision for anything that may assist with our inquiries.”
Police are yet to locate the silver Hyundai Terracan or the owner of the car and have urged anyone with information about the car to come forward immediately.
Police revealed Mr Phetmang, who worked at Starbucks in the city and a Thai restaurant, had been reported missing by friends a few days ago but it took some time for police to identify him due to the state of his body.
Mr Phetmang had also been using a number of dating websites prior to his murder with police urging anyone who had contact with him to come forward.
Mr Phetmang’a mother and sister, who live in NSW, have been notified about his death.
