Third person charged with murder of prominent Aurukun man Bruce Martin
A third person has been charged with murder after a prominent Indigenous leader was allegedly stabbed in the chest at Railway Estate. Here’s the latest.
Townsville
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A third person has been charged with murder after a prominent Indigenous leader was allegedly stabbed in the chest at Railway Estate.
Condon man Damen Scott Leaney, 24, has been charged with murder following the alleged fatal stabbing of Aurukun man Bruce Martin, 39, at a home on Eleventh Ave on July 12.
He has also been charged with deprivation of liberty (unlawfully detain/confine), enter dwelling with intent at night in company and threatening violence.
Leaney’s matter was mentioned in Townsville Magistrates Court on Thursday morning.
He was remanded in custody and Magistrate Ross Mack adjourned the matter to October 13.
Queensland police arrested Leaney yesterday as part of Operation Victor Madrox, the continuing investigation into the death of Martin.
Police reportedly arrested Leaney as he left a car, which when searched was found to contain a handgun, drugs and money.
It comes after his alleged co-offenders Candis Nicole Greer, 32, and Beach Holm man Daniel John Hook, 37, appeared in court last week.
They had both been charged with murder, deprivation of liberty (unlawfully detain/confine), enter dwelling with intent at night in company and threatening violence.
Their matters are also due to be mentioned again on October 13.
A prominent figure in Indigenous political circles, Mr Martin primarily worked in the community development space, and he was appointed as one of the original advisers on Tony Abbot’s inaugural Prime Minister’s Indigenous Advisory Council in 2013.
Mr Martin was a proud Wik man and well-respected leader among the remote Indigenous community of Aurukun in Cape York.
He also worked as the director of the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation (ILSC) between 2015 and 2021.
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Originally published as Third person charged with murder of prominent Aurukun man Bruce Martin
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