Eric James Forrest: 33-year-old charged with murder after human bones found in burnt tree trunk on property in Menah, near Mudgee

A man has been remanded in custody after being charged with murder – following the discovery of the bones of a convicted murderer on a rural property in the state’s central west.

A man will remain in custody on remand after he was charged with murder following the discovery of human bones uncovered in a burnt-out tree trunk on a rural property in the state’s central west.

Eric James Forrest, 33, of Green Point, has been charged with a string of offences, including murder, on Saturday after David Leonard Collisson’s bones were discovered on October 26 on a rural property on Wilbertree Rd, Menah, about 9km north-west of Mudgee.

Forrest was formally refused bail by Magistrate Gary Wilson at Dubbo Local Court on Monday.

He did not appear via audiovisual link and is on remand in Long Bay Correctional Centre.

No plea has been entered yet.

Homicide Squad detectives commenced a search as part of an ongoing investigation into a man missing from the state’s Central West., , David Collisson, aged 53, was last seen at a property on Wilbertree Road in Menah – about 9km north-west of Mudgee., , He was reported missing to Cumberland Police Area Command on Friday 15 October 2023 when he was unable to be located or contacted.

53-year-old Collisson, who himself did close to two decades in jail over the murder of an innocent teenager in 2000, was reported missing on October 15.

Collisson was found guilty by a NSW Supreme Court jury of murdering 17-year-old Shahab Kargarian as he sat with his girlfriend at Greenwich Point, on Sydney’s lower north shore, on October 8, 2000.

Shahab Kargarian (17) who was fatally shot in Greenwich Road, Greenwich 08/10/00 in front of girlfriend in robbery gone wrong, David Leonard Collison charged with shooting murder.

The State Crime Command’s Homocide Squad launched Strike Force Utyana after the convicted murderer was reported missing to local police.

Strike force detectives, with assistance from the Fog Squad and police divers, commenced a search of the property where Collisson was last seen.

After finding a number of bones, believed to be human, on the property, Forrest was arrested at Maroubra.

Police will allege in court Forrest fatally shot Collisson at the property over a dispute on September 25 between 9pm and 9.30pm.

Forrest was charged with murder, acquiring a firearm and ammunition, possessing a firearm without authority and possessing ammunition without a permit.

The accused also faces another set of charges, including reckless wounding, attempt to use a weapon to commit an indictable offence and assault causing grievous bodily harm.

Police allege Forrest wounded Paul Miller between 7.30pm and 9.30pm on September 1.

Forrest will reappear at the same court on January 11, 2024.