Cory Breton, Iuliana Triscaru still alive when forced into coffin
THE Queensland pair found inside a makeshift coffin at the bottom of a dam had 10 minutes to contemplate their fate, according to police.
THE Queensland pair found inside a makeshift coffin at the bottom of a dam had 10 minutes to contemplate their fate, according to police.
Iuliana Triscaru, 31, and Cory Breton, 28, were found beaten, bound, gagged and with gunshot wounds inside the heavy, rectangular box not far from Logan, south of Brisbane, last week.
Days after six people were arrested and charged over the grisly murders, police say the victims were still alive when they were stuffed inside the metal box, The Courier Mail reports.
The mother-of-three and her friend were then executed before the metal box — which had holes drilled into its sides to ensure it sank — was dumped into a dam near Scrubby Creek.
Ngatokoona Maretti, 36, Tuhirangi-Thomas Tahiata, 24, Webbstar Latu, 31, Davy Malu Junior Taiao, 21, Stou Daniels, 21, and Trent Michael Thrupp, 22, appeared at Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday to hear the charges against them.
Officers had been searching for Ms Triscaru and Mr Breton since they vanished on January 21 and January 24 respectively. The search escalated after Lelan Harrington, a 23-year-old who had been missing since January 25, was found at a Kingston home. Within hours, police established two crime scenes, one at the residence and another on dead-end Mudgee St.
Daniels and Taiao allegedly bashed Mr Breton as he arrived at a unit in Kingston, zip-tied his hands and ankles and stabbed him in the leg during the struggle. Ms Triscaru then arrived and the two men grabbed her and tied her wrists and ankles with duct tape.
Others joined them and the two victims were forced into the box, which was tied to a green Toyota HiLux ute and driven to Mudgee St, then the dam.
Detectives allege Thrupp shot both Ms Triscaru and Mr Breton in the head. He and Tahiata are then alleged to have placed the toolbox in the dam.
Family members have begun speaking about the murdered couple. Mr Breton’s partner Miranda said the couple were planning on moving away from the area.
We were looking to get away from everything and start fresh. We wanted to get him out of the so-called scene,” she told The Sunday Mail.
Ms Triscaru’s mother said last week she was a “very good mum” and her children had started asking about where she’d gone.
Nine News reports Ms Triscaru’s mother revealed they were “very, very good friends”.
“I can’t explain what I’m feeling in my heart, I don’t have life anymore,” she said on Friday.
She said Ngatokoona Maretti, one of the alleged killers and a mother-of-seven, was friends with Ms Triscaru.
Maretti’s lawyer Andrew Owens said outside court that she was very shocked by the charges and was missing her children. He said she was an associate of the alleged murder victims, but not a friend.
Defence lawyer Adam Magill, who is representing Latu and Tahiata, told The Courier Mail his clients were in a “horrified state trying to come to terms with the details of the allegations”.
“Obviously the gravity of the situation is becoming evident and I have grave concerns about their mental state,” he said.
Detectives are still searching for two men, aged 32 and 25, who they want to question over the pair’s suspected murders. They have asked for anyone who saw a dark green HiLux ute on the night of January 24 to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
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