Double killer Damien Peters, who disembowelled male lovers, visited gay clubs while on the run

A murderer, who disembowelled his male victims, spent the weekend on the run partying at a popular gay nightspot in Sydney.

A convicted double murderer, who disembowelled his male victims and flushed their organs down the toilet, visited and was kicked out of gay clubs while on the run in Sydney.

Damien Peters, 50, was last seen at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Randwick about 4.15pm on Sunday and was on parole when he managed to take off his electronic tracking device and fled. A citywide manhunt was triggered and he was recaptured 24 hours later.

NSW Police confirmed Peters was arrested in Petersham, in Sydney’s inner west, without incident on Monday afternoon.

Plain clothed officers spotted Peters walking down Church St in Petersham and called police from Surry Hills, Redfern and the dog squad as backup before they made the arrest.

He was taken to Newtown Police Station where inquiries are continuing.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Peters appeared to be bound for popular gay nightspot the Stonewall Hotel on Oxford Street when he was caught.

The club’s manager confirmed he was seen at the club on Saturday and Sunday night.

“He was asked to leave both times,” she told the newspaper.

The manager, who was unaware of his criminal history at the time, said she was concerned he had had too much to drink, so asked him to leave just before midnight on Sunday.

“He left straight away,” she said.

“We didn’t even get one look and he was gone”.

Peters was arrested this afternoon. Picture: NSW Police

The 50-year-old was released in 2016. Picture: NSW Police

Earlier, a police spokesperson told news.com.au that Peters was a patient at the hospital before he disappeared. He was reportedly admitted to the facility after residents at his halfway house called an ambulance over concerns for his welfare.

“He was there for less than two hours,” the police spokesperson told news.com.au.

As part of his parole conditions, Peters was required to wear an ankle monitor, which police discovered on Sunday night had been “forcibly removed” and discarded in nearby Kensington. He had been on parole since November 2016.

A State Parole Authority spokeswoman said the decision to grant parole was justified.

“(The authority) took into account his completion of relevant programs and counselling, his participation in external works release and day release programs, the offender’s behaviour in prison and his minimum-security prison classification,” she said.

Peters pleaded guilty to murdering and disembowelling two of his male lovers, Andrei Akai and Bevan Frost, months apart in his Surry Hills housing commission apartment in 2001.

The Supreme Court was told in late 2002 that Peters stabbed Mr Akai, 50, multiple times in the neck and dismembered his body before throwing it in a council bin.

The court also heard that eight months later, Peters stabbed and killed Mr Frost while giving the 57-year-old a massage in bed before cutting up his body.

An investigation into Mr Akai’s disappearance led police to Peters’ apartment in Northcott towers where they found the second victim’s dismembered remains in a bath tub.

NSW Police are seeking public assistance to help locate a man on parole, who removed his electronic tracking device. Damien Peters, aged 50, was last seen about 4.15pm at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick.

Peters was jailed for 21 years, with a non-parole period of 13 years, in 2002. He was released on parole in November 2016.

A police statement issued overnight described Peters as having a “caucasian appearance, about 175 to 185cm tall, with a muscular build and short brown hair”.

“He has a tattoo on his right upper arm of a snake wrapped around a panther and tribal style tattoos on his upper left upper arm,” the statement read.

Police warned that Mr Peters should not be approached.

Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000.

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