Man charged with murders of two men in Redfern boarding house
A 41-year-old man accused of murdering two men (one pictured) inside an inner-Sydney unit at the weekend has hired a specialist criminal lawyer to defend him.
Police & Courts
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A 41-year-old man accused of murdering two men inside an inner-Sydney unit at the weekend has hired a specialist criminal solicitor to defend him.
Christopher Bouggas, who was being held in the cells at Mascot police station, did not appear at Central Local Court in Sydney when his matter was briefly mentioned on Tuesday.
The bodies of Steven Finlay, 52, and his 32-year-old partner Mitch Watson, were found dead at a Cleveland St boarding house in Redfern just before midnight on Saturday after emergency services were called to the property for a welfare check.
Strike Force Menlow was quickly set up to investigate the incident, and Mr Bouggas was arrested at a Redfern unit on Cleveland St on Monday afternoon.
It is believed he was also a tenant of the boarding house.
Bouggas was taken to Mascot police station and charged with two counts of murder and refused bail to appear at court on Tuesday.
He did not appear via video link on Tuesday when solicitor Mostafa Daoudie mentioned the matter.
A police prosecutor said the charges were strictly indictable and he would be seeking an eight-week adjournment for a brief of evidence to be served.
The prosecutor also applied for a forensic procedure application, allowing police to collect evidence such as photographs and swabs from the crime scene.
The matter was adjourned to March 29.
Police allege the three men were known to each other, while one of the two men found dead had been on the phone to triple-0 as emergency services made their way to the scene.
“We do believe that one of the victims was on the phone to triple-0 whilst police were en route to assist,” Detective Superintendent Rodney Hart told reporters.
Superintendent Hart said it was a “difficult and confronting scene” with both victims suffering significant injuries.
He did not elaborate on the nature of the injuries.
“A post-mortem is scheduled for today and tomorrow and that hopefully will give us more of an idea of what the injuries are and the cause of death,” he said.
“We do know that both males suffered significant injuries but that’s all I can say at this stage.
“We don’t believe that a firearm was used in this crime.”
The boarding house is two terrace units side-by-side, with access from the rear.
Police remained in place at both the front and back exits on Tuesday.
Landlord Brian remembered Mr Finlay as a “nice bloke,” and another resident said the couple seemed very much in love.
“They were likeable blokes,” he said.
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