Coomera house fire victim Adam Marriott’s final call with best friend on night of death

Adam Marriott was happy with his job and “showing off” minutes before he visited his ex-partner’s home where he would later be found dead, a childhood friend has revealed.

Adam Marriott was happy with his job and “showing off his house” minutes before he visited the Coomera home of his former partner on Wednesday night, a friend has revealed.

The 21-year-old talented artist would be found dead by emergency crews responding to a house fire on Leichhardt St just before 11pm.

He was visiting Glen Tipler, 38, who is under police guard in a Brisbane hospital with significant burns to his face and limbs. No charges have been laid.

Jaylee Irwin said she video chatted with Adam, originally from Wyong in NSW, her best friend of 13 years, for more than 30 minutes from 9.21pm and missed another call at 10.01pm.

Childhood friends Adam Marriott (L) and Jaylee Irwin (R). Picture: Jaylee Irwin

“He was happy,” Jaylee said of her 30-minute call that night. “He was so proud of himself, showing off his house, talking about his job, showing me his artwork too.

“He was talking about his siblings because I knew them when they were very young. He was dying his hair from purple to black at the time.

“He probably would’ve bleached it a couple of weeks later knowing him.”

Adam relocated to Queensland from his hometown of Wyong in New South Wales five years ago: “I met Adam in Year 5, actually we dated in primary school before he came out.

Jaylee Irwin spoke with her best friend only an hour before he was found dead inside a Coomera rental property. Picture: Jaylee Irwin

“He had coloured hair, like Justin Bieber hair, braces and stuff. He was just adorable. I was walking home one night and saw him out the front of his house.

“He invited me inside and we just talked for hours. Just an instant best friend connection. From that day we were pretty much joined at the hip.”

“One of our best memories was at a local bush close to us we called ‘Greenland’ and we would pretend to be Avatars. He had such a vivid imagination.”

Adam had dreams of working as a zookeeper or zoologist, she said.

Jaylee Irwin says her friend was showing off this piece of artwork during their final phone call on the evening he died. Picture: Supplied

“He loved art ever since I knew him. He loved to draw, he also loved music and was very into that. He showed me that artwork an hour before he was found.”

Jaylee says she missed a second phone call from Adam 10 minutes later: “I was helping my friend put her kids to bed,” she said.

Adam Marriott’s body was found by emergency crews inside a Leichhardt St townhouse at Coomera. Picture: Tertius Pickard

“That’s the hardest part, I should’ve just picked up the phone and maybe he wouldn’t have gone over there.

“... But I’m just glad I got to say ‘I love you’ one more time.”

She learned of his death the next morning, seeing a social media post from another friend asking for information about Adam.

“I instantly called her and she said ‘you’re not going to want to hear this’.

“I went numb, shaking and crying.”

Jaylee Irwin says there was an “instant” connection between the best friends of 13 years. Picture: Jaylee Irwin

Mr Tipler, a roofer and keen storm chaser, is assisting police with inquiries, reportedly telling them he was trying to stop the younger man from committing suicide.

It is believed Adam arrived at the townhouse in an Uber about 10pm.

Police say Mr Tipler left the property about the same time the fire broke out, driving his blue Holden Commodore ute to a work colleague’s home at Sheldon in Redland, south of Brisbane.

Paramedics were called to the Sheldon address to treat Mr Tipler for significant burns to his face and limbs. He is in Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.

On Thursday, Acting Detective Inspector Mark Procter, of Coomera CIB, said the men had not come to police attention and there was no record of any violence between them.

Tradie and keen storm chaser Glen Tipler is helping police with their inquiries. Picture Supplied

Detectives are examining information including a recent Facebook post in which Mr Tipler, a tradie and keen storm chaser, complained to friends about a ‘f---ing narcissist dog in my life that thought they could try and use me again and get away with it’.

Asked about Adam’s relationship with Mr Tipler, Jaylee said: “He had mentioned the ex-partner but he didn’t call him that.”

“ … but that he’s not seeing him anymore. You wouldn’t even think he was around or in his life at all.”

Coomera house fire victim Adam Marriott. Picture: supplied

She described her best friend as “one of a kind” who was passionate about “everything that he loved and cared about.”

“He was very strong, no matter what life threw at him. He just pushed through that and came out smiling at the other end.

“I know that he’s had some bad stuff happen in his life and, no matter what, he kept his spirits up, which not everybody can do.”

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