Two remanded ov er body in Bauple forest

26th September 2008

POLICE have charged two men over the death of 62-year-old Stephen Ward, whose decomposing body was found in bushland north of Gympie on Sunday.

John Patrick Peterson, 33, a fisherman, of Murwillumbah, northern New South Wales, was charged with murder and interfering with a corpse. He could not apply for bail because of the nature of the charge.

The case will be mentioned again on December 4.

Maryborough detectives also charged a 28-year-old Glenwood fisherman, Seamus Matthew Smith with being an accessory after the fact to murder and interfering with a corpse.

He appeared in Maryborough Magistrates Court yesterday and was remanded in custody to the same court today.

The charges came after a trail bike rider found the body of Stephen Ward in the Bauple State Forest, at Glenwood, about 3pm on Sunday. Police described the dead man as an itinerant, who had no fixed address. He had not been reported missing by friends or next of kin.

Ward was found with a severe head injury that police now believe was the result of being struck by a grader blade the day before his body was found. Personal items, such as a wallet, personal papers, medication, money and personal jewellery were still on the body. The location of the body was accessible only by four-wheel-drive or foot and it was the remote site that immediately aroused police suspicions as to the cause of his death.

On August 2 and 3, Mr Ward spent time in custody in the Gympie Police watch house after being found sleeping near a road.

He was last seen alive about 8.30pm on Monday, August 4, accepting a lift from two men in a yellow four-wheel-drive with a white canopy outside the Curra Matilda Service Station. He had booked a night in the motel units at the rear of the service station. Management became concerned when it was discovered he had not returned for his possessions. Staff and local customers had not known the man and believed he was a stranger to the area.

Maryborough CIB conducted the investigation into the death of Stephen Ward with assistance from Homicide and Cairns detectives.