Jackson Stacker death: Was it suicide or murder?

Melbourne traveller Jackson Stacker had a hunting knife protruding from his chest, with his belongings including his phone, laptop and camera missing. Police thought it was suicide.

Victorian man Jackson Stacker.

A young Melbourne traveller found dead near Byron Bay had a hunting knife protruding from his chest, and his belongings including his phone, laptop and camera were missing.

The remains of Jackson Stacker, 26, were discovered under a tree in a paddock near the Sleepy Hollow rest stop on August 25, 2021, a couple of hundred metres from where his Toyota HiAce van was found abandoned.

His family has questioned the NSW police theory that Stacker took his own life, an inquest led by NSW State Coroner Teresa O’Sullivan was told on Monday.

Jackson Stacker with his mother, Sandra MacFarlane, photographed in April 2021.

No witness had been found who had ever seen Stacker with the 18cm-long knife prior to his death, and he had not been linked to using it through his DNA or fingerprints.

The original lead investigator, who has been on sick leave for more than a year, could not be contacted by the current officer in charge, and there was only limited information available from crucial early investigations, the inquest was told.

Stacker’s mother, Sandra MacFarlane, said it would have been an “easier path” to accept her son died by suicide but without a note or other conclusive evidence, they had asked many questions of police and were still waiting for answers.

“I don’t believe my son would ever have taken his life,” Ms MacFarlane said. “He had so many great things going on for him. That’s why we’re here.”

The inquest is delving into Stacker’s state of mind and who he encountered while travelling and living an alternative lifestyle, and how some of his belongings including the phone, laptop and camera came to be missing.

Police believe his body could have been lying in the field for a month, and his van appeared to have been ransacked.

A missing person poster that circulated on social media and in the Byron Shire about Jackson Stacker.

Adding to Ms MacFarlane’s distress, she subsequently visited the site where her son’s body was found and made the grim discovery of a tooth under a leaf.

It had been confirmed to be one her son’s missing teeth, raising questions about the extent of searches of the area where he died.

Ms O’Sullivan ordered a comprehensive search in August last year, involving a line search by officers on hands and knees.

Three finger bones were found in the search and identified as belonging to Stacker, son of former professional basketball player and coach Ian Stacker.

The first witness called, Mia Kidis, 25, said she met Stacker at the Premstock commune in the Daintree Rainforest in far north Queensland. He was “very charismatic, a very energetic and friendly person”, she said, with a great sense of humour “and a lust for life”.

But she said he would cry or have low moods about three times a week and had been particularly affected by a murder-suicide involving someone they knew.

In that case, Troy Harvey, 45, killed his son Koah, 4, in Rossville in far north Queensland in 2020. Stacker and Ms Kidis had met Harvey at the Premstock commune.

Counsel assisting the coroner, Kirsten Edwards, asked Ms Kidis numerous questions about Stacker’s drug use. She said he used marijuana only about once a month, and was aware it was dangerous for him, causing “a bit of paranoia”.

Ms MacFarlane said she last spoke to her son on July 22, 2021. Three days later, she transferred $300 to his account with a message to “please call mum”.

It was “unprecedented” he didn’t reply to thank her, and she started to worry.