Max Waller: Bikie Associate stabbed to death outside Broadbeach Carmel By the Sea in June 2013

A bikie associate was found dead at the doorstep of a Gold Coast unit building just before dawn after being stabbed to death with a Jamie Oliver-designed knife, kicking off an international manhunt.

A bikie associate was found dead at the doorstep of a Broadbeach unit building just before dawn in a crime which stunned the Gold Coast.

Max Waller was 28 years old when he was stabbed six times in the chest and died outside the Carmel by the Sea tower in the early hours of Sunday morning 10 years ago this week.

The fatal blow proved to be an 11cm deep wound which punctured one of his lungs.

The Bandidos associate had stumbled up to the door of the building from a nearby park where

his iPhone was found in a park and his body was discovered by a friend.

Max Waller.

Police, including the Major and Organised Crime Squad and the Homicide squad were immediately brought into the investigation.

Police on the scene in June 2013.

GOLD COAST HISTORIC CRIMES:

* BIZARRE REASON BEHIND PENSIONER’S BRUTAL BATHTUB MURDER

* ‘ONE OF OUR MOST DANGEROUS’: THE KILLER WHO MURDERED MELISSA

* ‘OFFENSIVE’: HERO’S FAREWELL FOR KILLER AFTER EX-GIRLFRIEND’S SLAYING

* HOW ‘PARTYING PROSTITUTES’ HURT PRESTIGIOUS CANAL ESTATES’ LIFESTYLE

* ‘TERRIFYING’: VICTIM’S WORDS FOR COAST’S ‘SMIRKING STALKER’ AFTER ATTACK

* BURIED IN A BUSH GRAVE: HOW COPS SOLVED COAST BUSINESSMAN’S MURDER

Waller had lived on the Coast for just a year after moving from Perth for the party lifestyle.

His killing set off a chain reaction which saw bikie club leaders hold a secret summit to cool tensions, with powerbrokers ordering members to not wear their colours or supporter gear in public and to stay off social media

They feared further violent incidents would provoke a major crackdown from police.

“This is the last thing the clubs want,’’ police told the Bulletin at the time.

“It’s a perfect storm of ­publicity that they just do not want or need and they are desperate to put a stop to it and get off the front page – that’s why they’ve called these emergency meetings.’’

Police officers talking to residents at the scene. Picture: Williams Jerad

Bikies wore plain black clothes to Waller’s memorial service held days after his death. His father Mark Waller begged police to catch his son’s killer.

“I love my son unconditionally and eternally,’’ he said.

“I am taking each day at a time. It’s a daily struggle. I miss my boy so much – it’s beyond words. This murder of my son is a total waste of life and those who are left to grieve cannot make sense of it.

“How can someone’s life be just ripped away from all these people’s lives by devils in the darkness?’’

It took nearly 10 months before the first arrest was made – then-22-year-old patched Mongol and cage fighter Wade Yates-Taui who was picked up in the US in April 2014 after he had fled the country following the killing.

Bikie Wade Yates Taui

He was picked up by US Marshals at an up-market Los Angeles hotel and was extradited to Australia.

Documents lodged with a US court revealed the weapon which killed Waller was a Jamie Oliver-designed knife.

Arrested soon after were fellow bikie Benjamin “Knuckles” Mortimer and Cohen Andrew Smith, who was not affiliated with any clubs.

All three were charged with murder but pleaded guilty in May 2017 to Waller’s manslaughter.

Max Waller’s killing took years and an international manhunt to solve.

Max Waller posted frequently about his Bikie life on social media.

Outside court, Yates-Taui and Mortimer solicitor ­Michael Gatenby insisted that the fight which led to Waller’s death had “nothing to do with any motorcycle club”. “It seems to have been a relationship, it’s always about a girl,” he told the Bulletin at the time.

“The irony of the whole thing is that these were a group of friends.

“It’s a tragedy for all four families, someone lost their life and these people were unfortunately involved in it.”

Mortimer was sentenced to nine years for his role in the killing.

“Justice Susan Brown found Mortimer took a steak knife from a friend’s apartment before going with Yates-Taui and Smith to the scene of the fight,” the Bulletin reported.

Yates-Taui was sentenced to seven years and six months behind bars while Smith was sentenced to eight years’ jail.