‘The Crabman’ exposed: Meet the bloke who allegedly meddled after Pheobe’s death
He’s a keen fisherman and father, but who is the man charged with accessory after the fact in relation to the alleged murder of Pheobe Bishop?
QLD News
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Bundaberg man Kieren Daniel Mittelheuser has long presented himself online as a fishing-obsessed bloke who loves his cars, good looking women and heavy metal music before his arrest in the Pheobe Bishop murder investigation.
The 30-year-old was taken into custody outside a local fast food outlet on Tuesday night, just a day after Pheobe’s private funeral.
Mittelheuser did not appear in person for his court mention on Wednesday.
He was heard by phone from custody and did not apply for bail.
He is facing two counts of accessory after the fact to murder, along with charges of fraud, drug possession, driving while disqualified, failing to appear, and breaching bail.
No pleas have been entered.
Mr Zeller M, solicitor with Indigo Law and acting as duty lawyer, told the court the fraud charge and the accessory after the fact charges were related.
He said the fraud charge involved the alleged use of a credit or debit card that is also relevant to the accessory allegations.
The case was adjourned until August 25, when Mittelheuser will appear via video link.
A full brief of evidence is expected to take six weeks.
Online, Mittelheuser — known as ‘The Crabman’ — has created at least seven Facebook accounts over the years, regularly posting that each new profile is a “fresh start.”
That same account includes a reference to Trent McRae in the bio section — a man who, along with another, was charged earlier this year over the death of young Bundaberg father Matty Nilsen, who was allegedly struck and killed by a hooning car while riding his bike along Takalvan Street.
McRae has been charged with one count each of dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death, dangerous operation of a vehicle, evasion offence, breach of bail, and two counts of learning to drive must be properly supervised in a motor vehicle. The charges are not related to Mittelheuser or the Pheobe Bishop investigation.
Mittelheuser’s pages are filled with posts about fishing, cars, women in provocative poses, and lyrics from heavy metal and hardcore bands like Slipknot and The Amity Affliction.
Some statuses quote emotional themes.
On June 5 — the day before Pheobe’s remains were discovered by police in bushland at Good Night Scrub National Park — he posted to Instagram:
“I don’t even care about my foot hanging off my bed anymore …”
Mittelheuser was born in March 1995 and attended Bundaberg State High School.
He is a father but it is understood he does not currently live with his child, and reports suggest he is estranged from the child’s mother.
Pheobe was reported missing in late May, prompting a wide search of bushland and the home she shared with Bromley and James Wood.
The pair were charged with murder and interfering with a corpse two weeks later. Police allege Pheobe was killed, her body transported in a grey Hyundai, and moved twice before being buried in remote national parkland.
No pleas have been entered in any of the cases.
Mittelheuser remains in custody as the court awaits the prosecution’s evidence.
The Bundaberg man’s family have been contacted for comment.
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Originally published as ‘The Crabman’ exposed: Meet the bloke who allegedly meddled after Pheobe’s death
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