Homicide squad leads new Simon Gaskill inquiry
In a sensational twist in the case involving the death of a man at a popular Victorian beach, the homicide squad has taken over the botched Simon Gaskill investigation.
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Homicide detectives have launched an investigation into the “body in the dunes” mystery in a sensational twist in the death of a man at a popular Victorian beach.
The Australian can reveal the homicide squad has taken over the inquiry into how Simon Gaskill, whose severely decomposed remains were found at Ocean Grove beach on Good Friday 2022, died.
After a two-year joint investigation by The Australian and the Gaskill family, Victoria Police this week referred the death of the 51-year-old homeless man to the homicide detectives citing their “expertise and independence” from police who had already conducted two investigations.
The dramatic move came just days after The Australian revealed a third police-coronial probe was launched this month after the Gaskill family raised concerns the detective appointed to lead a second inquiry was involved in the botched first probe. The third investigation will now be handed over to the homicide squad.
“The homicide squad will conduct a review into the circumstances surrounding a matter where a man’s body was located in Ocean Grove in 2022,” Victoria Police said in a statement on Thursday.
“The homicide squad review will look at the circumstances surrounding the death and the police investigation thus far.
“The matter has been allocated to the homicide squad given their expertise and independence from previous investigators.
“We acknowledge how difficult it is for the deceased’s family and loved ones not to have answers to all their questions at this time and we will continue to update them as the review progresses.”
Amanda Gaskill, the dead man’s sister, welcomed the involvement of the homicide squad, describing it as a “significant development” in the tragic saga. “We hope the homicide squad will find the answers we’ve been searching for,” she said.
In the weeks before his death, Gaskill, a talented junior surfer and popular teenager who grew up in Apollo Bay on the Great Ocean Road, had pitched a tent and was living in the sand dunes on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula. He is believed to have died in late March 2022, but his remains were not found until April 15.
A holidaying teenager exploring the dunes stumbled across the decomposed body which was near the tent and laying face down, across a branch, still wearing a backpack.
On July 25, 2022, just three months after his body was found, Victorian deputy coroner Jacqui Hawkins closed the case and determined the cause of death was “unascertained”.
On April 15, 2023 — exactly a year after Gaskill’s remains were found a short distance from a busy walking track — The Weekend Australian published a 4500-word magazine cover story about the mystery.
Just three weeks later, Ms Hawkins took the rare step of reopening the investigation into the death of the troubled man who was suffering mental illness and drug and alcohol issues.
“For the application to be successful, I must be satisfied that there are new facts and circumstances that make it appropriate to set aside all or some of the findings,” the coroner stated in her decision on May 8, 2023.
“Having reviewed the application and the article in The Weekend Australian Magazine … I am satisfied that the application and article constitute new facts and circumstances that were not known to me at the time I finalised my finding.
“I am satisfied that these new facts and circumstances make it appropriate to set aside some or all of my findings and reopen the investigation.”
The Gaskill family has claimed police bungled the first investigation by “brushing it aside” and failing to properly investigate the circumstances surrounding his death because police considered him to be a “homeless guy who just died in the dunes”.
“They didn’t see my brother as important,” Ms Gaskill told The Australian last year.
Chris Gaskill, the dead man’s father, said: “The police just ticked the boxes they needed to tick and that was the end of it. It was very dismissive.”
Simon Gaskill’s mobile phone was not found with his remains at the popular family beach and police never bothered to search his call records or internet usage during the first inquiry.
In successfully appealing to the coroner to reopen the inquiry, the Gaskill family also raised concerns about a lack of police interviews with family and friends, the failure to map a timeline leading up to his death, the failure to track the missing mobile phone, and the fact that only a minimal forensic examination was conducted on the remains.
The third inquiry, which has been handed over to the homicide squad, was opened after the Gaskill family raised concerns with the coroner that a Geelong detective who led the second inquiry was involved in the original flawed probe.
The Australian has confirmed the Geelong detective leading the second investigation was one of eight police who raced to the grisly scene when Gaskill’s body was first discovered.
Police also urge anyone with information about the matter, especially anyone who is yet to speak to police, to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au”
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