Triple arrest over alleged woodchipper murder
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12.45PM: FULL STORY OF TRIPLE ARREST OVER WOODCHIPPER DEATH
12.47PM: MEN TO FIGHT MURDER CHARGE OVER WOODCHIPPER DEATH
UPDATE 9am:
A COOLANGATTA woman is the third person arrested in relation to the gruesome death of Bruce Saunders whose body was put through a woodchipper at a Goomboorian property in November last year.
The 57-year-old woman, who was travelling from New South Wales to Queensland, was arrested in Coolangatta this morning by detectives from the Gympie Criminal Investigation Branch and the Homicide Investigation Unit.
A 61-year-old Gympie man and a 59-year-old Deception Bay man were also arrested this morning and each charged with murder and attempting to pervert the course of justice after being arrested in Maroochydore.
They are due to appear in Maroochydore Magistrates Court later today.
Detective Inspector Gary Pettiford said the arrests marked the closure of a vital phase in the investigation that began last year after the death was deemed suspicious.
"The investigating police officers wish to thank the family members of Mr Saunders for their ongoing cooperation and also to members of the community who offered information during the investigation," Det Insp Pettiford said.
EARLIER:
TWO people have been arrested in relation to the death of Bruce Saunders whose body was put through an industrial woodchipper at a Goomboorian property last year.
Charges were expected to be laid later today against the two men, one of whom is from Gympie.
Mr Saunders, 54, had been working on a property on Tanana Rd with two men, helping clear vegetation when he was allegedly killed on a Sunday evening last November.
The three men were helping a recently widowed woman who lived on the property.
The death was initially deemed an accident, however information provided to police indicated the likeable butcher may have met with foul play over a possible love triangle gone wrong.
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Mr Saunders had been working on the property with two other men - Peter Koenig, 61, of Gympie and Greg Roser, 58, of Deception Bay.
