Byron Bay cases that shook the region revealed
The Byron Shire has been haunted by heinous crimes and unsolved cases that have been seared into the region’s collective memory. Read about the shocking incidents.
Tweed Heads
Don't miss out on the headlines from Tweed Heads. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Byron Bay, the beachside paradise with a dark history.
While the Bay is nowadays more commonly associated with Hemsworths and influencers, not far below that instagrammable surface lies some tragic history.
The Byron Shire News revisits eight notorious crimes and cases that changed the fabric of the beautiful community forever.
The disappearance of Theo Hayez
It is the unsolved mystery of a missing Belgian backpacker the Byron Bay community refuses to let go.
Theo Hayez was just 18 when he arrived in the North Coast town in what was to be the trip of a lifetime.
Instead, he was last seen leaving Cheeky Monkey’s bar on Jonson St and was reported missing by Wake Up hostel in Belongil a week later when he failed to check out of his accommodation.
Since then, mobile phone data suggests after being kicked out of Cheeky Monkeys, he walked in the opposite direction of his hostel and cut a path through dense bushland to a beach cul-de-sac below the town’s iconic lighthouse.
The odd route has led to some speculation the teen may have met up with someone, possibly a local, who knew the way through the Arakwal National Park to Tallow Beach.
It’s believed his phone’s GPS turned off while at the secluded Cosy Corner and there is no Google data to indicate any further movements.
Only a hat matching the description of a cap he was known to wear has been found despite a series of extensive police, State Emergency Service and civilian searches.
His disappearance will be the subject of a coronial inquest which has been scheduled for later this month.
DJ dies after house party assault
It was supposed to be the happiest time of the year but Christmas 2017 only brought heartbreak for the family of Byron Bay DJ Christopher Bradley.
The 28-year-old was celebrating at a house party on December 25 when he was fatally assaulted by personal trainer Javen O’Neill.
O’Neill punched the popular Byron man three times in the head.
At the time of the incident, O’Neill was heard to have said “F--k, oh f--k, I f--ked up and I’m so f--king sorry” and after leaving the home to go outside returned to Mr Bradley’s side and offered to perform CPR.
Just minutes prior to the punches, O’Neill and Bradley were engaged in conversation and according to O’Neill’s testimony, were acting like “smart-arses”.
In her April 2019 victim impact statement to the court, Mr Bradley’s sister Bethany Bradley detailed her family’s heartbreak.
“Christmas is a time of celebration,” she said.
“This was once my favourite day of the year, and this has now been ruined forever by an unprovoked, violent attack.”
Judge Laura Wells convicted O’Neill in Lismore District Court in April 2019 of manslaughter and sentenced him to eight years and three months in prison, with a non-parole period of five years and nine months.
“You punched another person for no apparent reason before he could even raise a finger in his defence and you continued to pummel him to your physical advantage,” she said.
He will be eligible for parole in August 2023.
Cocaine-fuelled murder of Byron Bay businessman
Kevin Purtill has never confessed to the murder of Byron Bay businessman John “Jack” Garda.
Mr Garda was well known in the community as the owner/operator of the town’s 24-hour convenience store and newsagency in Sunrise.
But in February 2010 he was found dead in Purtill’s Lennox Head unit.
His throat was slit in what was an apparent cocaine deal gone wrong.
Suspicion had been raised about Purtill’s involvement in Mr Garda’s February 8 disappearance, when his brother Warren was arrested and charged for making a series of purchases with the dead man’s credit cards.
Soon after, Purtill attended the Lismore Police Station and handed investigators a map revealing where Mr Garda had been buried.
Purtill had claimed it was his brother who killed Mr Garda but that was rejected by a jury.
During his trial, a woman who lived below Purtill told the court blood had dropped through her ceiling after she heard screams and a loud thud.
Justice Ian Harrison found that while Purtill’s “continued silence means what actually happened may never be known”, he was satisfied Purtill was guilty and sentenced him to 28 years in jail, with a non-parole period of 21 years.
In 2016, Purtill’s lawyer filed a parole appeal however it was ultimately dismissed by Justice Clifton Hoeben.
Drug downfall of Byron Bay Olympian
A former Olympian went from Australia’s pride to drug trafficking shame when his July 2018 offshore cocaine smuggle was intercepted by police.
Nathan Baggaley, 45, was a three-time world champion 500m kayaker who won two silver medals for Australia in the 2004 Athens Olympics when he made headlines for trying to import more than 500kg of cocaine into Australia.
Baggaley waited onshore near Byron Bay while his brother Dru and another man collected the cocaine from a foreign boat.
However, police intercepted their inflatable boat and all three men were arrested, including Baggaley on shore.
Police charged them with the attempted importation of an estimated $200 million of cocaine.
Although he pleaded not guilty, the court found Baggaley guilty and sentenced him to 25 years in prison with a 12 year non-parole period.
Brother Dru, also a promising rugby union player who claimed returning to the sport in Byron Bay had helped him to get his life back together, was jailed for 28 years with a 12-year non-parole period.
Nathan was previously convicted for partaking in an ecstasy dealing ring in Byron Bay and the Gold Coast in 2007.
Beast of Byron Bay sex attacks
Labelled the “Beast of Byron Bay” by some media, crimes don’t get more shocking than those committed by Dean Anthony Sellenthin.
The Bangalow lawnmower man committed more than 80 sex-related crimes over six years before he was caught by police.
During his 2019 sentencing hearing, the court heard the 43-year-old would roam the streets three or four nights a week, filming naked children and adults in their homes without their knowledge.
He repeatedly broke into the home of an elderly blind woman and on one occasion filmed himself fondling her genitalia.
He also raped three dogs 19 times in a spate of sexual offending.
Sellenthin filmed all of his crimes which assisted the prosecution in what they deemed was “persistent offending that the community is rightly horrified by”.
The court heard Sellenthin completed a high intensity sex offenders program when he was last imprisoned in 2006, but his crimes later worsened.
He was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in prison and would not be eligible for parole until 2026.
The disappearance of Thea Liddle
The disappearance of microbiology graduate Thea Liddle is one that still looms large with questions.
Ms Liddle, 42, was last seen in Mooball and was known to frequent other Far North Coast locations including Nimbin and Byron Bay.
She was reported missing by her family to Queensland police in January 2020.
Missing for more than three months, it was revealed Ms Liddle was last seen on CCTV footage in Butler St buying milk.
In July, police then found human remains in Tallow Beach alongside a purse and a carton of milk.
The remains were positively identified as Ms Liddle’s.
While Ms Liddle’s ex-partner was one of the last people to see her, police deemed he was not linked to her disappearance.
A post-mortem examination also did not reveal any sign of injury.
Police are still unclear how she died and when.
Killing of ‘gentle’ Linda Tregarthen
The Byron Bay community was irrevocably rocked by the violent killing of “small, gentle and friendly woman” Linda Tregerthan in 2004.
The 43-year-old jewellery maker’s body was found by her 17-year-old daughter in her Shirley Lane house.
She had received dozens of knife wounds to her body, along with blunt force trauma to her face and chest, and three fractured ribs.
German man Vita Tantra was charged with her murder but found not guilty in 2010 by reason of his severe mental illness under the Mental Health (Forensic Provisions) Act by Justice Robert Allan Hulme.
“I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that it was the accused who stabbed Ms Tregerthan to death and that he intended to kill her,” Justice Hulme said at the time.
“She was prone on the floor when subjected to what must have been a frenzied attack with a knife ... her attacker positioned on top of her.”
Tantra was detained indefinitely in security at Long Bay Prison Hospital.
He accused Ms Tregerthan of practising identity theft, interfering with his life by stealing his male identity and of “psychically stalking me for about six months by pretending to be me – by that I mean she behaved like me”.
Hit and run of popular footballer
The death of popular young man Tim Watkins left a giant hole in the Byron and Mullumbimby community.
A talented rugby league player for the Mullumbimby Giants Rugby Club and beloved son, the 22-year-old’s bright future was stolen from him due to the actions of driver Stuart Charles Newman.
Mr Watkins was left for dead on Wilsons Creek Rd, Wilsons Creek, about 9km southwest of Mullumbimby in June 2019.
He was found later by a passing motorist and died tragically at the scene.
For 58 days, his friends and family were left in the dark, not knowing who had hit their son without stopping to help.
His mother told the court it got to the point where she couldn’t even grocery shop in Mullumbimby because of a fear she’d developed that she might know the person who killed her son.
Meanwhile, Newman had travelled from Wilsons Creek to his mother’s Bellingen property after the incident and after 10 weeks handed himself into Coffs Harbour police.
He also headed to Queensland repaired his damaged van and had it spray-painted.
He pleaded guilty to negligent driving occasioning death and failing to stop and earlier this year.
Judge Dina Yehia sentenced Newman to two years and eight months in jail, taking into account he’d already been in custody since December 22, 2020.
He will be eligible for parole on May 21, 2022.
The court also disqualified Newman from holding a driver’s/rider’s licence for three years.
Originally published as Byron Bay cases that shook the region revealed
‘Good for the comp’: Rare scenes in LJ Hooker League
A slice of history was made and a couple of teams put in statement performances as the LJ Hooker League kicked off over the weekend.
Police allege DV offender pulled knife after car chase
A Richmond Valley man who allegedly fled police in a Kia before he pulled a knife and was tasered is set to fight a raft of charges. Here’s the latest.