Accused euthanasia ring leader Brett Daniel Taylor hit with nine additional charges
A man accused of selling a whale euthanasia drug to a paraplegic man to end his life has been charged with nine additional offences, including aiding the death of an elderly man at Ashmore in 2024.
A man accused of selling a whale euthanasia drug to people so they could end their lives has been hit with nine additional charges, including aiding the death of an elderly man last year.
Police allege Main Beach businessman Brett Daniel Taylor, 53, set up a registered charity to euthanise beached whales but he instead sold the drugs to vulnerable people so they could end their lives.
The death of Hope Island quadriplegic David Llewellyn Bedford, 43, on April 11 this year sparked the initial investigation.
Police revealed on Thursday detectives from the Gold Coast Criminal Investigation Branch and the Homicide Investigation Unit have since charged Mr Taylor with nine additional offences, including one count of aiding the suicide death of a 75-year-old man at Ashmore on January 9, 2024.
He has also been charged with four counts of supplying dangerous drugs, which include allegedly offering pentobarbital at meetings in Maroochydore on September 10 and Nerang on February 19, three counts of fraud, which include allegedly falsely claiming to be qualified solicitor and charging unauthorised fees for estate planning and end-of-life services, and one count of converting moneys under the Collections Act 1966 in relation to the alleged misappropriation of donated charity funds for personal expenses.
Mr Taylor, who is yet to enter a plea, has been remanded in custody and will front Southport Magistrates Court on December 2.
Detective Inspector Mark Mooney confirmed police had investigated the deaths of 20 people since early 2020, which include Mr Bedford’s and the elderly man at Ashmore.
He said another death which Mr Taylor was allegedly connected to is being investigated by NSW police.
“We have insufficient evidence to press charges for these 18 other deaths,” he said.
“Fifteen of the matters had a cause of death certificate issued by a doctor, therefore the matter had never been reported to police or the coroner.
“In order to form charges around aiding suicide, we need a cause of death and that obviously had been written off.
“We were then relying on the families to provide information and in those instances, we don’t have enough information or evidence to (lay charges).”
Insp Mooney said these new charges ended a police investigation into the deaths and no additional charges were expected to be laid.
All deaths have now been referred to the coroner.
Insp Mooney confirmed Mr Taylor had declined a police interview and enacted his right to remain silent.
“If any other families want to come forward and provide information that has had dealings with (Taylor), we invite them to contact Crimestoppers,” he said.
“We will treat any new information seriously.”
Police allege Mr Taylor had been pretending to be a qualified solicitor and giving advice on wills and estates for at least five years.
“He is not a lawyer, he has never been a lawyer and the Legal Commission of Queensland has investigated him previously,” Insp Mooney said.
“I believe he does have some sort of legal education but he is not a qualified solicitor.”
Police are still investigating how much money in total had been donated to the whale charity.
“Money has been donated to the charity, he has then used that money for his own wellbeing, his own expenditure and not for the charity,” he said.
“We are doing a lot of bank checks and research into his bankings and that will hopefully provide more information which we can provide to the court.”
As part of the investigation, Mr Taylor’s father Ian George Taylor, 80, from Ashmore has been charged with one count each of possessing and trafficking dangerous drugs.
Southport woman Elaine Arch-Rowe, 81, has also been charged with one count each of attempting to aid suicide, trafficking dangerous drugs, possession of dangerous drugs and sale of potential harmful things.
