Andrew Christopher Walsh murder trial: Two men found guilty of murder

Two “vile and evil” men have been jailed for life for the murder of a father whose body they dumped in a pit that was concreted over.

Two “vile and evil” men have been jailed for life for the murder of a father whose body they dumped in a pit that was concreted over at the trucking business where the victim was brutally bashed and killed.

Dewald De Klerk 30, and Joshua Robert Searston, 27 were found guilty by a jury of murdering Andrew Christopher Walsh, 35, on Wednesday in Brisbane Supreme Court following a two-and-a-half-week trial.

Mr Walsh’s remains – which had been doused in chemicals in an attempt to dissolve them – were found encased in concrete at a Coopers Plains business on Musgrave Road in February 2022 months after his murder at the site in the previous November.

What the jury was not told was that police had descended on the business looking for another missing person – Lachlan Griffiths – who it would be revealed was also killed at the site.

When police discovered a body under metres of concrete that took days to dig up they at first thought it was Mr Griffiths’ remains.

But they would soon learn it was Mr Walsh.

In a heartbreaking victim impact statement, Mr Walsh’s mother Liz Ryan bravely spoke of the horror that unfolded for their family.

“Within hours, we were told the horrific, vile and inhumane way he was murdered and disposed of,” she said.

“All I would be recovering from the coroner was a bag of skeletal matter that was not recognisable.

“I would never see him, hold him or be free of the nightmares visualising my Andy dumped in a pit of concrete.”

Victim Andrew Christopher Walsh

Ms Ryan said De Klerk and Searston were “the most vile and evil creatures we will ever have to have memory of”.

Mr Walsh’s father Patrick Walsh said his son’s “presence illuminated every room he entered, his charisma was undeniable”.

“He possessed a remarkable ability to make others feel cherished and infused warmth into the lives of those around him,” he said.

“The haunting recollection of what transpired to my son weighs heavily on my mind. At night, I close my eyes and see him, not as a vibrant, loving man he was, but as he was in those final moments. This torment is an inescapable companion that I am burdened with every day.

“My son’s life was ended in an act of unspeakable cruelty and violence. The justice system must hold those responsible fully accountable.”

Mr Walsh was attacked at the Musgrave Rd site over unsubstantiated claims earlier in the day by an associate that he had drugged and sexually assaulted her.

He was upstairs in a room at the trucking business when he was ordered downstairs to the “interrogation station”, Crown prosecutor Chris Cook told the court.

A scared Mr Walsh – who had just listened as someone else was violently bashed downstairs – refused, prompting Searston to march upstairs and “skull-drag” him out of the room before stabbing him.

The victim who pleaded for him to stop was taken downstairs and further assaulted with fists and a knife by Searston and the “instigator and driving force” of the sinister scheme De Klerk.

Dewald De Klerk upon his arrest

The violence was extreme and ended in Mr Walsh’s death.

His body was later dumped on a forklift – where it was slapped by Searston – then dropped into an industrial pit at the site before Searston left the business.

De Klerk was involved in covering up the murder by having the pit concreted over and weighting Mr Walsh’s body down with various things.

“That concrete poured just two days before police arrived may have set more properly … and Mr Walsh may have always just been a missing person,” Mr Cook said.

Mr Cook said both men were a danger to the community and pushed for the mandatory minimum non-parole period of 20 years for murder be extended for De Klerk – previously a star baseball player who represented New Zealand and played for a college in the Unites States before falling into the grip of drugs like Searston.

The New Zealand citizen was previously sentenced to jail for a violent kidnapping but did not have his Australian visa cancelled and “was allowed to return to the community and he murdered Mr Walsh”.

“The defendants are dangerous men who the community must be protected from,” Mr Cook said.

Both men were on parole at the time of the murder.

Chief Justice Helen Bowskill said the circumstances surrounding Mr Walsh’s murder were “despicable” and “chilling”.

“(It was) a cruel and violent assault on this man lasting for a considerable amount of time, involving stabbing with knives,” she said.

Joshua Searston upon his arrest

“Compounding the violence … is the disgraceful and incredibly disrespectful way in which his body was dealt with by both of you initially, by placing him in this pit and by you, Mr De Klerk in all the steps that you took beyond that to ensure that he was submerged and could never be found again.”

This included pouring chemicals into the pit in an attempt to dissolve the remains more quickly.

Chief Justice Bowskill highlighted a recorded prison phone call by the killers where they were “effectively laughing” at what they had done.

“That the people who did it found it amusing is chilling,” she said.

Chief Justice Bowskill said the trauma experienced by the family – who attended everyday of the trial and at times turned their head and cried as the deplorable treatment of Mr Walsh was revealed day by day – had been compounded by the men’s actions.

Both men were sentenced to life imprisonment while De Klerk’s mandatory non-parole period was extended by two years.

He was also sentenced to four years after pleading guilty on the trial’s first day to interfering with Mr Walsh’s corpse to be served concurrently.

David Lee Tan, who part owned a business at the Musgrave Rd site, was last year sentenced to six years for accessory after the fact to the murder of Mr Walsh.

Tan helped dispose of his body in the pit but did not physically assault him.

He was also sentenced to 9.5 years for the manslaughter of Lachlan Griffiths’ – whose remains have never been found – at the Musgrave Rd business in January 2022.

De Klerk and Searston were not involved in Mr Griffiths’ death.

Originally published as Andrew Christopher Walsh murder trial: Two men found guilty of murder