No body, no weapon, no suspects yet the disappearance of Brendon Roy Marriott soon turned into one of Tasmania’s grisliest murders

POLICE only started investigating the disappearance of Brendon Roy Marriott after receiving a tip that he might have been the victim of foul play. They started with no body, no weapon and no suspects.

BRENDON Roy Marriott’s family never reported him missing because he often went interstate without notice.

Police only started investigating his disappearance in early February 2011 after receiving a tip that he might have been the victim of foul play.

They started with no body, no weapon and no suspects.

But after two months of painstaking detective work, police pieced together one of Tasmania’s grisliest murders, with a crucial piece of evidence contained in a blue bucket.

In a another twist, the man police believed was responsible never made it to trial, taking his own life in prison before he appeared before a judge.

Brendon Marriott, pictured with his 750kW Torana drag racer, often went interstate without notice.

Coroner Rod Chandler ruled Marriott, 41, died on December 2, 2010, after he was shot three to five times in the head and chest with a .22 calibre rifle by his “best mate” Noel Alan Percy. Before his death, Marriott, a mechanic by trade, had been producing and distributing methamphetamine with Percy, but the deal turned sour when Marriott started keeping the product for his own use.

On the night of Marriott’s killing it is believed the two men had a fight about a drug debt.

Percy told police he acted in self-defence because he feared Marriott was about to kill his wife and children with an axe.

“When he arrived he was high on speed or something,” Percy told police on March 20, 2011. “He was acting like a crazy man. He had an axe with him. He wouldn’t go away. He continued with his threats and pushed towards going inside my house.

“I tried to stop him by waving my gun and threatening to shoot. He kept on. I fired the gun in his direction hoping I would put him off but … I never intended to kill him or even harm him with the shot I fired.”

Tasmania police search for clues at Bagdad.

But the actions that followed suggested otherwise.

Instead of reporting the death to police, Percy put Marriott’s body in a trench in his Bagdad backyard and set about cremating the remains using oil, timber and tyres as fuel.

He then ran over the area with a tractor repeatedly before gathering the burnt remains in a blue plastic bucket and delivering them to his much younger mistress’s house in Bridgewater.

Percy and Anna-Lyce Maree Olding sparked up a relationship in about 2008, but instead of hiding it from his wife, Percy told her Olding was his daughter from a previous relationship, the coronial inquest revealed.

Marriott’s youngest daughter Kashia Marriott, 28, of Glenorchy, has since told the Mercury how her dad was blindsided by his friendship with Percy.

Police markings for evidence in their Bagdad search for clues.

“I told my dad to stay away from him, but he just wouldn’t listen. He thought he was a good person,” she said.

“Dad was scary when he was on speed but he would never, ever hurt a family. He was always there for someone when they needed it.

“Noel was scum and nothing but bad news.”

Investigators turned their attention to Percy after realising he had posed as Marriott to withdraw $5326.38 from Marriott’s bank account between February and March in 2011.

After intercepting a series of suspicious phone calls, police conducted a search at Percy’s East Bagdad Rd home on March 8, 2011, as part of its taskforce investigation into Marriott’s disappearance.

Percy wasn’t home but his wife Shelly Ann Percy telephoned her husband to tell him about the ongoing search.

The police investigation centred on this house.

In a panic, Percy called Olding and told her to grab the blue bucket and “take it down and tip it in the water”.

Olding drove to a jetty off Riverside Rd at Bridgewater and tipped the contents of the bucket into the River Derwent. Three days later, police intercepted her Hyundai Excel sedan and seized the bucket from the boot.

Forensic testing confirmed the contents of the bucket included bone fragments. Another test discovered fingerprints belonging to Percy were also found on the inside and outside of the bucket.

Off the back of the fresh evidence, officers conducted another search at Percy’s property on March 28, 2011. Goods seized included two firearms, two firearm silencers and Marriott’s cherry red Chevrolet, which had been imported from the United States and was considered his “pride and joy”.

A .22 calibre shell case was also found in a trench at the rear of the property.

The police investigation centred on this house.

During her interview with police, Shelly Percy said that her husband had told her that he had dumped some of Marriott’s remains alongside the Midland Highway, north of Bagdad. She later identified the exact location to police and a search of the area revealed a quantity of bone fragments, which an anthropologist said were “definitely human”.

Later that day, Percy was taken into police custody and interviewed.

He initially denied any wrongdoing involving Marriott and suggested that he was living in Queensland.

But two days later, after receiving legal advice, he confessed to shooting Marriott.

Both Shelly Percy and Olding were each charged with one count of perverting justice and a second count of failing to report the killing of a person.

Police markings for evidence in the investigation into the death of Brendon Marriott.

While in custody Shelly Percy became aware for the first time that Olding was not Percy’s daughter, but rather his mistress.

Percy was found dead in his cell after taking his own life on May 6, 2012.

Olding pleaded guilty, was sentenced to a total of 30 months’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of 15 months.

Shelly Percy was convicted after trial of all charges. She was sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of 7½ months.

When asked if she was disappointed Percy never faced trial Kashia Marriott said, “Hallelujah he’s dead”.

Originally published as No body, no weapon, no suspects yet the disappearance of Brendon Roy Marriott soon turned into one of Tasmania’s grisliest murders