00:00:00
you recently heard me talk about best fiends the mobile puzzle game that's been receiving five star ratings around
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to the world it's a totally different puzzle experience where you get to solve thousands of puzzles and collect cute
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characters and to level up as you progress over the past few weeks I've been competing against Case Files
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producer Mike migas to see who can progress through the game quicker and it's now safe to say he has well and
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truly won our challenge I'm still loving the game and progressing through the levels but mike has flown ahead and he
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is already at level 230 that's how much he loves best veins the game that is easy to learn but difficult to master
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the puzzles get more interesting as you go and you get to collect cool new fiends and to bonuses along the way so
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it's never boring the case file team is hooked it's a great casual game to play whenever we need a quick break you can
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also play it offline making it accessible anytime anywhere don't miss out on the must play game of the year
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download best fiends for free on the Apple App Store or Google Play and to join the 90 million other people who
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have downloaded it and rated at 5 stars that's best fiends friends without er best fiends give it a go today and see
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if you can beat Mike's progress our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at
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anytime you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
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please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website Mount Macedon looms 65 kilometres
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northwest of Melbourne City it's tree cloud a mountainous peak overshadowing a small gold rush era heritage township
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bearing its namesake from the summit Mount Macedon provides a sprawling scenic view of the surrounding native
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forests into rural Victorian countryside with the cityscape in the far distance several creeks branch out from the
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mountain including two that feed into the much larger Maribyrnong River a winding 40 kilometer waterway that heads
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chiefly southward through the factory districts and residential suburbs of the northwestern fringe of the city before
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joining melbourne central waterway the Yarra River eventually emptying into Port Phillip Bay as the second major
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river in metropolitan Melbourne the Maribyrnong originally served as an arterial shipping route in the city's
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west fostering the development of the area's industrial growth as a result the quality of the water degraded with
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decades of contamination pollution and a litter turning the river a murky brown color
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in recent times most of the riverside industry has been closed with the Maribyrnong re-established as a
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recreational hub for boating fishing rowing and cruises an abundance of bushland parks and sporting fields now
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border the length of the river which is framed by various bike paths and walking
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trails at around midday on Thursday February 5 2015 - walkers were strolling along the eastern banks of the
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Maribyrnong river in Moonee ponds a suburb six kilometers out of Melbourne they passed the renowned Boathouse
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restaurant owned by celebrity chef Gary Megan which was bustling as usual as was
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the anglers tavern a Riverside pub was located a little further downstream on the adjacent sure the Maribyrnong park
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which flanks the popular eatery was full of visitors dog walkers joggers and a children enjoying the warm summer day at
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1:30 p.m. as the pair continued along the palm and a gum tree lined track they noticed something floating upstream in
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the murky waters of the river it was a white plastic grocery bag with something inside upon taking a closer look they
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immediately contacted police who promptly arrived to the riverbank curious patrons of the nearby
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establishments watched on as officers stood on a wooden jetty and used a pole to fish the bag from the water they
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placed it on that jetty and peered inside discovering the bag contained what appeared to be a reasonably fresh
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severed human limb [Music] [Music] officers at the scene conducted an initial examination of the limb and
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identified it to be the forearm of a Caucasian male severed at the elbow went arrest they were certain the victims
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hand had been intentionally removed to hinder efforts to identify the remains through fingerprint analysis there was
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only one distinguishable feature on the forearm a faded tattoo of a devilish caricature wearing baggy pants and
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holding a three-pronged pitchfork in its left hand and what looked like a spray can in its right the grisly discovery
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sparked the full-scale search of the Maribyrnong River which was an enormous and time-consuming task encompassing the
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water police state emergency service and the police search and rescue squad as the various teams began trudging the
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riverbank and its rocky surrounds sifting through the junk and muck that had accumulated over the years police
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divers in full scuba gear plunged into the shallow murky waters to scour beneath the surface their vision was
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severely limited as they cautiously navigated around to the large tree branches and submerged items that
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littered the riverbed in a slow and methodical process police boats equipped with sonar equipment scanned the depths
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of the river two kilometers in either direction from the side of the discovery overseen by a police helicopter circling
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above search efforts were complicated by the fact that the Maribyrnong was a tidal
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river influenced by Port Phillip Bay which sat at its large coastal mouth the changing ocean tides altered the rivers
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flow and water levels causing debris to constantly shift directions up and downstream police understood that if
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there were more human remains to be discovered in the waterway they may have since been displaced and directed
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elsewhere it also meant the location where the forearm had been found wasn't necessarily the same place that had been
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originally discarded the intensive police presence caught the attention of the media and passing on lookers who
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swarmed the scene to observe the grim search meanwhile detectives began door-knocking the local area and
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collecting footage from security cameras located at need the riverbanks the grisly discovery came as a shock to the
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residence of Moonee ponds where such horrific crimes were unheard of in their esteemed and trendy suburb populated by
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young professionals families and to retirees due to the method in which the body was dismembered and to the
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perpetrators calculated efforts to conceal the victim's identity rumors circulated as to whether the
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death was gang-related just over three hours after the forearm was discovered search crews had shifted two kilometers
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downstream to the suburb of Essendon West there under the aplans Street pedestrian bridge a popular dive spot
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for swimmers police and state emergency service personnel spotted a second plastic bag in the water
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they pulled it out and discovered it contained another human limb although this one was not as easily identifiable
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as the first hours later at 7 p.m. two kilometers upstream from where the forearm was originally sighted police
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spotted a black plastic bag floating down the river upon retrieving it the bag contained what officers could only
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describe as a small amount of human flesh the recovered human remains were sent to the Victorian Institute of
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Forensic Medicine for examination where forensic pathologists performed multiple
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autopsies to confirm all the body parts belonged to the same unidentified male they also determined the remains had
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been in the river for up to seven days it was clear to police that the victim had been murdered and dismembered
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elsewhere before the Maribyrnong had been used as a dumping ground to discard his remains they were certain
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more body parts had yet to be discovered but given the late hour and the lack of
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visibility dive efforts were suspended until the following morning search efforts continued on land overnight as
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the gruesome nature of the case put pressure on police to swiftly identify the victim and capture his killer
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the next morning Friday February 6 divers re-entered the river at first light as police continued to comb the
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adjoining landscape in surrounding streets after failing to uncover any further remains by midday the focus of
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the search was shifted to the area surrounding the Afton Street Bridge the site of the second discovery at 1:30
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p.m. divers began extensively combing that portion of the river but after hours of
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fruitless searching were forced to call it a day the next step the homicide detectives was to try and identify the
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victim using the only clue they had thus far the distinctive four aren't I do of the
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pitchfork wielding devil they cross-checked the image with missing person reports and the criminal
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database whilst making inquiries with local tattoo parlors and graffiti artists to
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hasten efforts police released an image of the tattoo to the media in the hope that a member of the public might
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recognize the artwork and come forward in an accompanying statement Detective Inspector McHugh stated the killer made
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steps to try and hide his identity and to we're taking steps to try and identify him detective Hughes expressed
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sympathy towards the victim's family who would likely learn if their loved ones death from the ensuing media reports
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quote I think it's important from the family's perspective we know this is a terrible way for them to find out but I
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think it will get a breakthrough in our investigation meanwhile the search of the Maribyrnong River continued the
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waters hadn't been closed off to the public so River goers continued to populate the waterway as it was scoured
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for body parts on the third morning of the police search a woman took to the water in her rowboat and headed towards
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the Maribyrnong Road bridge in Moonee ponds near the location where the forearm was recovered at 11:00 a.m. she
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spotted a plastic bag floating under the bridge and paddled over to take a closer
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look realizing it contained flesh she caught the attention of a passing police boat
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and used her paddle to push the back over to the officers three and a half hours later two local men were walking
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their dogs alongside the river as they passed the Essendon canoe club on the adjacent side they spotted a white
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plastic bag that had washed up on the riverbank and wedged between rocks the men recognized the gray human knee
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protruding from the bag and immediately flagged down a police boat reporters that the scene crowded around the men as
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one explained I feel awful it's someone whilst the other described the discovery
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is surreal padding kids are enjoying a nice game of cricket and - there's a body part floating near them as the two
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latest discoveries were within 200 meters of the Maribyrnong Road bridge police shifted their attention back to
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this area but after another day of searching their efforts yielded no further discoveries
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meanwhile the image of the forearm tattoo was circulating on news sites throughout Australia and as far away is
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the United Kingdom and in New Zealand as no one had immediately come forward to identify the tattooed man it was
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presumed he either had a little family or lived interstate or overseas police had appealed for anyone with information
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to contact Crimestoppers an organisation which allows people to provide anonymous
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information to authorities the service was flooded with calls but none led to the identity of the victim then the
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Victoria Police Facebook page received messages from the public alerting them to a post on the internet forum website
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reddit in which users had identified the origin of the tattoos pitchfork wielding
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devil the image was featured on a 1997 album titled tooth and nail released by three-piece Australian punk band two
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downtime the album's cover art depicted the exact same devil from the tattoo the
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only difference was that instead of a spray can in its right hand downtimes devil was holding a bouquet of yellow
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Arum lilies an ornamental plant variety commonly displayed at funerals given the similarities between the
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tattoo and the album's artwork the web sleuths who made the connection speculated whether the victim was known
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to the band downtime had since drifted apart lead singer Billy Hughes died in a car
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crash in 2011 drummer Brendan piece no longer perform and a bassist James meek now played for various other groups
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although the band originally hailed from Sydney they had amassed the decent underground following in Melbourne
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during the nineties former band manager in that race was certain he would remember if a devoted downtime fan had
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gotten the tattoo at the time as they surely would have come forward to show it off to their idols as it turned out
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Dan times bassist James meek had copied the devil artwork for his band's album cover from a skateboarding and a
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graffiti magazine he had taken some creative liberties in his reproduction giving the devil a bouquet of yellow
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lilies instead of the can of spray-paint and held in the original magazine version the magazine artwork and the
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victims tattoo were compared side-by-side revealing an exact match evolving news reports on the tattoo
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caught the attention of a local Melbourne resident runnel DeWitt Moore who arrived at the North Melbourne
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Police Station to inform officers that his 32 year old son Brendan David Bernard had the exact same devil tattoo
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on his inner forearm having it inked when he was 16 years old the last time Ronald had seen his son
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was over a month earlier on Christmas Day of 2014 the Brendan's lack of contact since the holiday was not
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unusual as he often went long periods of time without getting in touch as such the family had not been concerned about
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his whereabouts and he hadn't been reported as missing Brandon's friends knew him simply as be and he wore a
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distinctive chain around his neck adorned with the letter he was the eldest of four children
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of whom had since relocated to Europe but the other two resided in Melbourne his mother had passed away in 2008 for
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the past five years Brendan had been homeless intermittently staying at men shelters until the end of 2012 when he
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took to couchsurfing between the homes of his friends a long-term heroin user he was also known to deal drugs which
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caused the rift between his family although they did not agree with his life choices they still cared deeply for
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Brendon and hoped he would get his life back on track they made sure to touch base with him every once in a while
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including at Christmas time to determine if there was a familial connection ronald Whitmore provided investigators
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with his own DNA to compare against the unidentified remains a significantly faster process than checking the DNA
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against their extensive databases as police awaited the results of the tests Detective Inspector McHugh's fronted the
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media announcing the tattoo had been recognized by the victim's family he disclosed the victim to be a mean aged
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in his 30s who lived on the fringes of Melbourne CBD but withheld a brendan Bernhard's name explaining he would not
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disclose his identity until the DNA had been confirmed through forensic testing although he expressed the confidence
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that they now knew who the victim was remarking everything points to that family's relative adding that a motive
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for the murder and his exact cause of death remained unclear detective Hughes thanked the public and media for their
00:19:02
support during the course of their investigations stating the response from the public has been tremendous despite
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the confronting nature of these discoveries people have acted quickly and contacted police immediately the
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information provided has enabled investigators to act quickly and secure the items proving crucial in the invest
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Gatien I'd appeal to the offender out there we are methodically working our way towards him or her and if they would
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like to contact Crimestoppers we'll certainly make ourselves available for interview a lot of people find it
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themselves in circumstances they have no control over obviously if there are associates of the offender perhaps who
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are not actively involved in the death we'd certainly be interested in talking to them if they come forward the results
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of Ronald Whitmore's DNA tests came back positive confirming a familial match existed between himself and to the
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victim this result coupled with the tattoo identification confirmed the Maribyrnong River remains
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were those of Brendan Bernhard the verification devastated Brendan's family who struggled to comprehend the
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depravity of his death and at the horrific ordeal he suffered Ronald provided police with a recent
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photograph of his deceased son to help with their investigations he portrayed a smiling and relaxed Brandon as he stood
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at the tram stop on the corner of Gertrude and Napier streets in Fitzroy his shoulder-length brown hair was
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covered by a black hat which matched his black attire a collection of keychains dangling around his neck the photo was
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released to the media publicly naming Brendan Bernard as the men whose remains had been found in the
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river and to the hunt for his killer was initiated homicide detectives extended their investigations to the locations
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Brendan was known to frequent and began questioning his relatives and friends John Malkovich
00:21:18
Brendan's stepfather came forward as one of the last people to have seen Brendan
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in the days preceding the discovery of his remains John maintained a good relationship with
00:21:29
his stepson with the pair having last seen each other on Tuesday January 27 nine days before Brendan's body parts
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were found he met his stepfather outside at John's city-based office where he asked to borrow some money John agreed
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transferring $100 into Brendan's bank account but he hadn't heard from him since when John saw the devil tattoo in
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media reports he immediately recognized that as similar to Brendan's but the image was blurry so he wasn't 100%
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certain wanting to make sure his stepson was alright John proceeded to try to find him
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he knew Brandon was staying with a friend Matthew Brennan who lived in an apartment on O'Shaughnessy Street in
00:22:17
North Melbourne the apartment was part of a multi-story Housing Commission complex owned by the
00:22:23
Australian government which provided shelter to low income earners and people dependent on social welfare Matthew had
00:22:31
been allowing Brendan to stay at his place temporarily free of rent when John visited the apartment looking for
00:22:39
Brendan Matthew seemed reluctant to open the door informing him that Brendan had packed up
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his things and left the weight prior detectives checked CCTV footage and were able to confirm that Brendan had met his
00:22:54
stepfather in the CBD On January 27 as John had stated but were unable to track his movements from there onwards they
00:23:03
approached Matthew Brennan finding him in the company of another friend Konstantinos Belarus who resided in the
00:23:10
same O'Shaughnessy Street housing complex when asked about Brendan's whereabouts
00:23:16
Matthew and Konstantinos told the officers that he had quote done a runner after he was confronted by two unnamed
00:23:25
men for selling them drugs they described as batshit neither of the men had heard from Brandon since detectives
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proceeded to Dornoch the apartment complex to see if any of the residents had witnessed anything unusual in the
00:23:41
days before Brendan's departure neighbors recalled seeing Brendan at Matthews apartment on Tuesday January 27
00:23:49
after he had returned from meeting his stepfather in the city the front door to Matthews apartment was
00:23:56
open and the two men were seen in the company of Konstantinos Bell yaris his girlfriend and a fourth president named
00:24:03
Edward Hill several neighbors recalled hearing prolonged yelling and screaming emanating from the group one resident
00:24:12
who resided in the apartment above told investigators he overheard a fight in the apartment below that lasted from 10
00:24:19
to 20 minutes another neighbor added that she heard strange noises the sounded of like a
00:24:25
power drill being used police looked into the backgrounds of all those in attendance and Matthew Brennan's
00:24:36
apartment On January 27 starting with the host 36 year old Matthew Brennan was the youngest of four children he left
00:24:46
High School in year 11 working sporadically as a factory hand when he was 19 his family was struck by a
00:24:53
sequence of tragedies starting when his mother died of cancer followed by losing
00:24:59
his brother to a drug overdose and his father dying of a stroke all within a three year time span illicit drugs had
00:25:08
been a problem throughout much of Matthews life he started smoking cannabis at age 12 before moving on to
00:25:15
amphetamines at 15 and heroin at 17 he also experimented with benzodiazepines and hallucinogens including LSD into
00:25:26
magic mushrooms by the time he was 19 years old he was dependent on heroin and began
00:25:33
identifying as a Nazi skinhead Matthew began psychological treatment in 2012 during which a doctor noted he had
00:25:43
psychopathic features contrasted with anxiety of vulnerability and inferiority suggesting his identification with Nazi
00:25:51
beliefs was part of a coping mechanism to deal with negative emotions in August 2014 he was admitted to the Royal
00:26:01
Melbourne Hospital after suffering a methamphetamine induced psychosis Matthew had two sons with a woman who
00:26:09
was also struggling with drug addiction resulting in their children being placed
00:26:14
in the care of Matthew stepmother although he had no history of violent crime he had appeared in court three
00:26:22
times between 1995 and 2002 having been convicted of over 130 offences from those three appearances mostly in
00:26:32
relation to dishonesty charges he was imprisoned for 14 months in 2002 for skipping bail burglary theft handling
00:26:42
stolen goods possession of heroin and possession of a controlled weapon after he's released in 2003
00:26:51
Matthew obtained accommodation from the ministry of housing in the Oceania sea Street apartment complex although he was
00:26:58
able to stay out of legal trouble in the following 13 years he continued his ongoing use of illicit drugs Matthew's
00:27:09
friend 31 year old Konstantinos Bell Yaris was one of three sons his parents divorced when he was young and he was
00:27:17
raised by his father with whom he had a strange relationship contributing to Konstantinos as anger issues by his 16th
00:27:26
birthday after his father threatened to kick him out Konstantinos left home on his own accord
00:27:32
dropping out of high school in year 11 to begin a plumbing apprenticeship that he never finished
00:27:38
throughout his adult life he was employed on and off mainly finding work as a concrete aah
00:27:44
he battled with anger drug and alcohol problems having started using cannabis as a young teenager
00:27:53
Konstantinos had been a regular user of methamphetamine since he was 17 years old and too dealt drugs to support his
00:28:01
habit by his mid-20s he was admitted into psychiatric care twice during a nine year on and off de facto
00:28:11
relationship Konstantinos fathered two children the relationship was marred by violence and
00:28:17
domestic incidents one of which led to Konstantinos being convicted for hindering police using threatening words
00:28:24
in a public place and behaving in an offensive manner he was placed on a bond and required to attend to anger
00:28:32
management counseling in June 2013 police were called to the couple's residence after another incident in
00:28:40
which Konstantinos had smashed to various household items including the fridge in the microwave his partner
00:28:48
attempted to escape with the children the Konstantinos smashed her car windows with a stick fleeing the scene as the
00:28:55
police arrived he returned once the police had left and assaulted his partner again he returned to the house
00:29:05
two months later smashing more property and was subsequently sentenced to three months
00:29:10
in prison and twelve months of community service which he breached and was later
00:29:15
ray arrested for in December 2014 Konstantinos started dating a single mother named Janet not a real name
00:29:26
and the pair lived together in the Oceana C Street apartment complex by 2015 whilst on bail for two counts of
00:29:35
recklessly causing injury committing an indictable offense whilst on bail and breaking his community corrections order
00:29:43
Konstantinos was in trouble with the law again high on crystal meth he broke into
00:29:49
the home of a man who owed him a meager amount of money as part of a drug debt brutally attacking him before stealing
00:29:56
his mother's car Konstantinos was charged with trespass robbery and intentionally causing injury
00:30:05
just weeks before police arrived to make inquiries in relation to Brendon Bernhard's murder
00:30:11
constantinos had invited his ex-partner to his apartment and upon her arrival proceeded to push her down a flight of
00:30:18
stairs the third man in the group last sighted with Brendon Bernard was 46 year old Edward Hill known by his nickname
00:30:29
nibby the oldest of several children to his longtime divorced parents Edward suffered from Perthes disease a
00:30:37
childhood hip disorder that prevented bone growth causing lifelong deformities and osteoarthritis he also suffered a
00:30:47
mild intellectual disability which made him the target of schoolyard bullies causing him to skip school before
00:30:53
leaving altogether in year 10 when Edward was 15 years old he left home working as a gardener in butcher before
00:31:02
dropping out of the workforce entirely at age 18 receiving income from a Disability Support pension and the
00:31:09
Salvation Army a heavy drinker from an early age Edward was known to consume leaders of poor today and who was also a
00:31:18
regular user of cannabis heroin morphine and to methamphetamine he had a long criminal history amassing over 80
00:31:27
convictions from 29 court appearances between 1995 and 2010 mostly for dishonesty driving into drunk and
00:31:36
disorderly offenses but also for more violent crimes in November 2005 he served an 8 month
00:31:45
prison sentence for assault related charges damaging property and aggravated burglary over the years he fathered six
00:31:54
children all of whom resided with their respective mothers interstate by 2015 Edward had been living in the Oceana sea
00:32:03
Street commission complex for ten years it was clear that all three men were of dubious character but they assured
00:32:13
police that brendan had left Matthew Brennan's apartment weeks earlier to escape the ramifications of a botched
00:32:20
drug deal unable to find proof of any such situation having occurred police were convinced the men were lying then
00:32:30
one of Edward Hills neighbors came forward Eric not his real name provided a statement to police in which he
00:32:38
claimed nipi told me it was him who killed Brendan Bernhard he said Brendan had been given $300 to
00:32:47
score drugs but he returned empty-handed with only $40.00 left this prompted Edward to quote crack the sheets
00:32:57
according to Eric Edward bragged about killing Brandon saying it was easy I hit him four times and he just dropped
00:33:08
he said Brendan's body had been left in the bathtub for a week before being dismembered by Matthew Brennan and
00:33:15
Konstantinos belleros Eric's statement was equal parts damning and chilling however police were aware that Edward
00:33:26
Hill's claims were unreliable due to his intellectual disability illicit drug use
00:33:31
and excessive alcohol consumption nevertheless Eric stood by his statement not only willing to testify in court but
00:33:41
also agreeing to serve as a police informant by wearing a concealed wire during further conversations with his
00:33:48
neighbor during these recorded conversations Edward rambled on about Brendon Bernhard
00:33:55
accusing him of trying to sell crushed glass disguised as crystal methamphetamine investigators were
00:34:03
unable to prove whether these accusations were true and to Edwards unfounded stories only served to raise
00:34:10
doubts as to the authenticity of his character and thus the validity of his claims that he was responsible for
00:34:17
Brendan's death police was certain the truth of what happened to Brendon Bernhard remained with those who were in
00:34:25
Matthew Brennan's apartment on the afternoon of January 27 they brought Matthew Konstantinos Belarus and Edward
00:34:34
Hill in for questioning but all three men remained tight-lipped regarding what exactly had happened they then
00:34:42
questioned the final person who was witnessed at the apartment that day Konstantinos his girlfriend Janet to
00:34:50
their surprise Jeannette expressed a willingness to reveal the truth in exchange for a plea deal
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00:39:20
on Monday January 26 2015 Janet and Konstantinos visited Edward Hills apartment having befriended him
00:39:30
during a drug deal the previous month when they arrived Matthew Brennan and de Brendon Bernhard
00:39:35
were already there Edward introduced the Brendan to the couple into the group settled in
00:39:42
spending the day together drinking alcohol and taking drugs Janet sold to Brendan five morphine
00:39:48
tablets for $100 on thick meaning he agreed to pay her back later and to the pair exchanged phone numbers to
00:39:56
facilitate the future transaction that afternoon a neighbor complained about the noise the group was making so they
00:40:04
each splintered off and two returned to their own apartments the next day of Tuesday January 27
00:40:12
Janet phoned Brendon several times seeking payment for the morphine tablets she handed the phone to her boyfriend
00:40:19
with Brendan telling Konstantinos he would get the money off his stepfather after some bartering Konstantinos agreed
00:40:27
to lower the debt to $60 later that day Janet and Konstantinos have visited Edwards apartment finding Matthew
00:40:36
Brennan already inside the force spent the afternoon drinking and doing drugs during which the conversation drifted to
00:40:45
Brandon Bernhard Matthew complained about Brandon living at his place rent-free and expecting
00:40:51
free drugs despite having previously agreed to let him stay at his apartment for nothing
00:40:57
as they continued to wear their graves tempers began to flare in the group and they decided to go to Matthew's
00:41:04
apartment to confront Brandon he wasn't home at the time so the group began rummaging through his belongings hoping
00:41:12
to find cash or drugs that could use this repayment for his debts as they were ransacking through his things
00:41:20
Brendon suddenly appeared catching the group red-handed they immediately began screaming at him demanding money it was
00:41:30
chaotic Brendon was obviously flustered and confused Konstantinos flew into his trademark
00:41:37
rage punching Brendon repeatedly before Matthew and Edouard joined in on the attack
00:41:43
under white and weak from years of drug use Brendon was unable to fight off his three attackers instead he covered his
00:41:52
head with his arms in an attempt to protect himself as they continued to beat him whilst repeatedly yelling you
00:41:59
were warned Konstantinos then placed Brendan in a sleeper hold until he lost consciousness
00:42:07
dropping his limp body on the Landrum floor Janet was ordered to watch over Brendan as the three men entered a
00:42:15
bedroom to discuss their next move closing the door behind them after a few minutes
00:42:23
Brendan regained consciousness and scrambled to his feet realizing his attackers were still in the apartment he
00:42:30
made an attempt to flee but Janet shut and blocked the front door fearing he would go to the police she yelled to the
00:42:38
others alerting them that Brendan was trying to escape Konstantinos Matthew and Edward rushed
00:42:47
out of the bedroom and resumed punching Brandon wrestling him to the floor they pushed the pillow over his face the
00:42:55
Stifel he screamed as he continued to yell I just want to go I just want to go the others ordered him to shut up before
00:43:05
hauling Brendan into the kitchen where Konstantinos pulled out a black cutthroat razor and slashed him across
00:43:11
the face Janet desperately told her boyfriend no weapon but he ignored her the men dragged Brandon kicking and
00:43:23
screaming into the bathroom instructing Janet to close the door behind them she remained in the kitchen drinking alcohol
00:43:31
to calm her nerves whilst listening to the muffled mix of yelling screaming and banging coming from the next room around
00:43:39
45 minutes later the chaos finally stopped and everything went quiet Janet shouted is everything okay is he
00:43:49
breathing to which the men replied come and have a look she opened the bathroom door
00:43:58
finding Brandon lying motionless in the bathtub covered in blood Konstantinos was holding the ends of a
00:44:06
rope pulled tied around Brandon's neck he held it out to Janet saying he have a pull of the dog when she refused he
00:44:17
gaped the Rope a forceful tug causing Brandon's head to hit the side of the tub as he showed a no reaction
00:44:24
Janet asked whether Brandon was still breathing but the three men didn't answer she put her fingers to his neck
00:44:32
but was unable to find a pulse the group reconvened in the kitchen where Matthew
00:44:39
ordered that no one was allowed to leave Konstantinos appeared unfazed by the situation at one point asking Matthew if
00:44:48
he would mind if he and Janet had sex Janet remained elusive to police as to whether she engaged in sexual activity
00:44:56
with her boyfriend cutting to another conversation between the group where they discussed the possibility that
00:45:03
Brandon had drugs hidden on him Edward volunteered to search Brendan's body entering the bathroom alone Jiri
00:45:12
emerged a short time later claiming he hadn't found anything the group were then faced with what to do next they
00:45:21
were unable to move Brandon's body from the apartment as they would no doubt be spotted by their many neighbors in the
00:45:29
days following the murder his body remained in a bathtub as the group debated what to do Konstantinos took to
00:45:38
wearing Brandon's Footwear expressing his amusement that he was walking around in a dead man's shoes
00:45:46
who was the middle of the sweltering Australian summer during which temperatures regularly exceeded a 35
00:45:53
degrees Celsius the hot weather caused the Brendan's body to decompose at a rapid rate when a neighbor complained of
00:46:01
the awful smell emanating from Matthew Brennan's apartment the group started washing the body to combat the odor
00:46:08
after a week had passed Konstantinos and Matthew agreed that the ideal way to dispose of Brendan's body
00:46:15
without detection was to dismember him on Tuesday February three seven days after the murder the three men convened
00:46:26
at Matthew's apartment to begin the process of dismembering Brendan's body upon completion the men sealed Brendan's
00:46:35
body parts in plastic bags a while later Konstantinos retrieved a janitor from their shared apartment and she was
00:46:43
immediately repulsed by the smell of death that lingered on him he told her what they had done boasting that the
00:46:51
cut-up flesh looked quote good enough to weep he made specific reference to one of
00:46:58
Brandon's legs stating it looked good enough to roast and that he would have considered eating it if it hadn't been
00:47:04
sitting there for so long he also bragged that it only took them one hour in 20 minutes to complete the
00:47:11
task calling it a record with the Janet in tow the group of four carried the bags from Matthew's apartment downstairs
00:47:20
and out to a car they had stolen Mathieu sat in the backseat as they drove West spraying a can of Link's deodorant to
00:47:29
mask the smell of the remains they stopped at six different locations along the course of the Maribyrnong River
00:47:37
throwing the bags into the water at each stop to hinder efforts to identify that
00:47:43
victim once his remains were inevitably discovered they discarded the bags containing Brendan's head hands and feet
00:47:50
into a council dumpster near a public playground following Janet's confession police
00:48:01
arrived to the dumpster where Brendan's head hands and feet were discarded but the rubbish had since been collected by
00:48:07
a garbage truck and its contents taken to a dump Janet led police for the six locations
00:48:14
along the Maribyrnong River where the group had discarded the rest of Brendan's remains with a search of the
00:48:19
river recommencing on friday february 27 police released a statement to the media
00:48:26
that read investigators would like to reassure local residents that the police activity today is an extension of the
00:48:35
previous search activity as all the remains have not been found not as the result of the discovery of additional
00:48:42
body parts investigators obtained a search warrant for Matthew Brennan's apartment where they found traces of
00:48:50
Brendan's blood in the lounge room they were also able to recover a vacuum cleaner Matthew had since sold to the
00:48:57
pawn shop cash converters which underwent forensic examination and was found to contain traces of Brendan's
00:49:04
blood in subsequent police interviews Matthew Brennan Konstantinos Bell yaris and Edward Hill all confessed to killing
00:49:14
and dismembering Brendan Burnett before disposing of his body they admitted that
00:49:20
Konstantinos and Matthew had used the knife and a hacksaw to cut up Brendan's body while edward looked on all three
00:49:29
men were charged with murder to which they pleaded not guilty claiming their motive was never to kill
00:49:36
Brendan only to hurt him as punishment for owing them money the trio were denied bail enter the trial was ordered
00:49:45
to begin the following year as the complex forensic nature of the case meant police needed extra time to
00:49:51
prepare their brief of evidence they also needed more time to search for Brendan's missing remains almost a month
00:50:02
later on Sunday March 22 a member of the public was walking near the Boathouse restaurant where Brett
00:50:08
severed forearm was found 45 days earlier when they spotted some bones the discovery drew intense media attention
00:50:18
with several reports boldly insinuating that the bones belonged to the murdered 32 year old
00:50:24
however forensic testing later confirmed the bones were not human despite the extensive efforts by police no further
00:50:34
remains belonging to Brandon Bernhard were located on July 21 a committal hearing determined there was sufficient
00:50:44
evidence for the case to go to trial at the Supreme Court lost awaiting trial for murder
00:50:50
Konstantinos Belarus faced the court for his earlier pending charges which included assault recklessly causing
00:50:57
injury committing an indictable offense whilst on bail and breaking his community corrections order he was
00:51:05
convicted on all counts and sentenced to nine months imprisonment Brendan Bernhard's murder trial began
00:51:14
the following year on Monday May 23 2016 overseen by presiding judge Justice John
00:51:22
Beale in his opening address chief Crown prosecutor Gavin Silbert told the court
00:51:28
you are about to embark on another one of the increasing number of murder cases arising from the world of drugs and in
00:51:37
particular the drug is following the prosecution's opening the defense counsel immediately put in an
00:51:45
application to discharge the jury reasoning silber's comments were quote irrelevant factually incorrect and
00:51:53
highly prejudicial to the accused the prevalence of ice also known as crystal methamphetamine had risen dramatically
00:52:02
amongst the drug users in Victoria over the previous years causing a sharp increase in violent crimes including
00:52:09
homicides the defense argued the prosecution's comments skewed the trial to represent the wider societal problems
00:52:17
arising from the ice epidemic and that a quote invites the jury to associate this
00:52:24
offense with the topical social evil in an inappropriate way justice bill permitted the trial to continue the
00:52:33
reminded the jury to focus on Brandon's murder and not the Associated drug use or its wider social impacts the defense
00:52:43
of all three of the accused invited the jury to convict their clients on the lesser charge of manslaughter explaining
00:52:50
their motive was the cause serious injury not death Konstantinos attorney argued that his clients intent was to
00:52:59
quote merely give the men a flogging although conceding that he hadn't been disappointed by the result the defense
00:53:09
also insisted that their clients having accepted responsibility for Brendan's death was evidence of their remorse for
00:53:16
their actions the prosecution's assertions that the dismemberment was an aggravating factor of the murder was
00:53:24
disputed by the defense they referenced other murder cases where the victim's body was mutilated immediately following
00:53:31
the killing unlike Brendan's dismemberment which occurred a week after he had died they
00:53:38
maintained that the desecration of Brendan's body was the result of a drug-induced panic not aimed to further
00:53:45
humiliate him or seek vengeance judge Beal wasn't convinced stating his opinion that the defendants motivation
00:53:54
behind dismembering Brendan's body was a calculated decision to evade punishment
00:54:03
the prosecution's case relied heavily on the witness testimony provided by Constantino sirs former girlfriend Janet
00:54:11
the couple had since separated with Konstantinos resuming his relationship with the mother of his children whom he
00:54:19
had abused on multiple occasions the defense worked to discredit Janet by drawing attention to her history of drug
00:54:28
and alcohol abuse as well as to the lack of confidence she had in her own testimony as she had admitted to
00:54:35
consuming alcohol and using ice immediately prior to and during Brandon's attack Janet was made out to
00:54:42
be an unreliable witness Matthew Brennan's attorney told the jury she is the only witness to what happened
00:54:51
in that living room you appreciate by now this is a different world you're going into everyone in that room was
00:54:59
drugged affected or drunk Janet said she couldn't go out in public unless she'd had something to drink you'll be
00:55:07
focusing very carefully on her evidence how reliable is it however upon cross-examination Janet's a version of
00:55:18
events were exactly as she had described for during her initial confession to police she admitted to using drugs that
00:55:25
day saying we all had our poison but her story remained the same when reliving the first punch that
00:55:34
initiated the ferocious attack on Brandon she explained there was like a big ball of arms and two legs it was a
00:55:43
pretty big mess there were three people that was yelling the dog was barking and
00:55:49
biting I was saying stop Janet Breck downing T says she told the jury how Brendan had cried throughout
00:55:59
his ordeal begging his attackers to stop when the accused to realize that Brendan
00:56:05
had died Janet explained it's lucky they weren't having fun anymore because he wasn't alive anymore she admitted to
00:56:16
closing the front door of the apartment on Brendan when he made an effort to escape as she didn't want him to alert
00:56:22
police and to risk Konstantinos going back to jail a large amount of Janet's credibility centred
00:56:30
around at the duration of the fire that led to Brendan's death she was certain the assault lasted for a couple of hours
00:56:38
beginning with a 15-minute verbal argument followed by a 15-minute physical fight in the lounge room which
00:56:45
then rendered Brendan unconscious for another 15 minutes when Brendan came to and tried to escape
00:56:52
another 10-minute fight ensued and his final ordeal in the bathroom lasted up to 45 minutes however this conflicted
00:57:02
with the testimony provided by the neighbor who lived in the apartment above Matthew Brennan who told the court
00:57:08
that the fight he overheard only lasted 10 to 20 minutes the defense argued that Janet's
00:57:15
incorrect timings were evidence of her inability to factually recall Kate details of the event but Janet stood by
00:57:22
her testimony stating everything was a blur around at that time in my life I remember clearly everything that
00:57:31
happened but the time frames are a bit fuzzy as Janet hadn't witnessed to the events that unfolded in the bathroom it
00:57:41
was unclear exactly what had occurred within Konstantinos spell yaris was accused of being solely responsible for
00:57:49
this most savage portion of the attack he admitted the events that transpired were beyond of the scope of what he and
00:57:57
his co-accused had agreed to enter that when he had choked Brendan with the robe
00:58:02
he had done so without Matthew Brennan or Edward Hills explicit approval furthermore Matthews legal counsel
00:58:10
extensively highlighted the fact that despite the bathroom belonging to their client there was no forensic evidence to
00:58:17
place him at the scene of the murder there was also no evidence to indicate who was present during each portion of
00:58:25
the attack or who administered the fatal injury that ended Brendan's life the extensive damage caused the Brendan's
00:58:34
recovered remains failed to provide an answer with the exact cause of his death remaining a mystery in an effort to
00:58:44
explain the presence of Brendan's blood in Matthew's apartment and a vacuum cleaner the defense counsel claimed
00:58:50
Brendan had gotten into a number of fights leading up to his death and the spatter had likely resulted from one of
00:58:57
these incidents after an 18 day trial followed by seven days of deliberations the jury reached
00:59:06
its final verdict on Friday June 10 2016 4 the murder of Brendan Bernhard Konstantinos Belarus Matthew Brennan and
00:59:16
Edward Hill were unanimously found guilty when the verdict was announced Brendan's family let out cries of her
00:59:25
life and embraced one another in tears as the jury left the court Konstantinos and Matthew were Saint
00:59:33
smiling and joking with one another during the subsequent sentencing hearing victim impact statements were read out
00:59:43
to the court an emotional reading from Brandon's father Ronald Whitmore expressed how disgusted and enraged he
00:59:51
felt over his son's murder and the way he was treated after his death he described the murder as a senseless
00:59:59
small-minded and cowardly act adding that the lack of humanity shown by his son's killers would stay with him
01:00:06
forever despite the best efforts by police Bernhard's head hands fate and a significant portion of his body were
01:00:16
never recovered Ronald demanded his son's killers reveal the whereabouts of his remains quote where's the rest of my
01:00:26
son's body he was a human being he was my son he died for what Ronald described the turmoil he felt having to opt for
01:00:38
cremation instead of burial due to how little of Brendan's body was found whilst his family had a long-feared that
01:00:45
would one day lose Brandon to a drug overdose Ronald remarked that what happened
01:00:50
instead was far worse stating the manner of which he died makes me sick to my stomach
01:00:58
I would like Brandon to be remembered as the boy he was and not the man he could
01:01:04
have been I loved him and I always will victim impact statements were also read on behalf of Brendan siblings giving the
01:01:16
otherwise private family the opportunity to publicly express their grief Brendan's brother described how his
01:01:24
world stopped upon identifying Brendan's forearm as though he was outside his body watching a play he also expressed
01:01:34
sadness that Brendan's body was disposed of like garbage quote he was my flesh and blood he was my
01:01:43
brother he died for $60 which I found out was probably actually paid it was discovered that the $60 debt that led to
01:01:55
Brendan's murder had in fact been paid On January 27 2015 after visiting his stepfather in the city to borrow the
01:02:05
money Brendan had trusted the $60 payment to his roommate Matthew Brennan requesting he passed the
01:02:12
cash on to Janet to repay his debt instead of giving the money to Janet Matthew decided to pocket it for himself
01:02:21
he kept his theft a secret from the others even when Brendan's alleged failure to repay the debt sparked the
01:02:29
group's confrontation Brandon was genuinely blindsided by the attack confused as to why the group were
01:02:37
demanding money from him which he had already paid at the sentencing hearing Justice John bill rejected the defense's
01:02:48
argument that the dismemberment of Brendan's body occurred too long after the killing to be treated as a
01:02:54
circumstance of aggravation stating the three of you disposed of the body parts and I regard that as a further
01:03:03
aggravating circumstance justice bill declared the defense teams effort to persuade the jury to convict the trio of
01:03:12
manslaughter as a pragmatic tactical decision to maximize their chances of being found to not guilty of murder he
01:03:21
did not believe had flowed from any semblance of remorse from the defendants and didn't accept any statements relied
01:03:27
on by the defense that attempted to indicate otherwise just as bill told the convicted men the
01:03:35
impact of your offending on mr. Bernhard's family is profound and enduring the anguish they feel has
01:03:42
impacted on their physical and mental health what you did to mr. Barnard before and after his death
01:03:49
understandably dominates their thoughts they continue to be tormented by the fact that parts of mr. Bernard have not
01:03:57
been recovered he concluded given the lack of evidence as to what happened in the bathroom where mr. Bernard was
01:04:07
killed I cannot be satisfied that there was an agreement to kill nonetheless your moral culpability is still high
01:04:15
this was a protracted brutal and cowardly assault by the three of you the rehabilitation prospects for
01:04:25
Konstantinos Belarus Mathieu Brennan and Edward Hill were respectively regarded as poor fair and uncertain during the
01:04:37
trial Edward Hill had been assessed by a neuropsychologist who concluded his IQ was a mere 68
01:04:44
placing him in the bottom 2.2 percent of the population the impairment was present throughout his brain development
01:04:52
and further compromised by substance abuse during his adolescence impacting his general functioning behavior
01:04:59
reasoning and problem-solving skills as well as his decision-making and judgment
01:05:05
it was determined that people with his mild intellectual disability generally require a supportive environment and
01:05:13
significant training to function in their lives effectively notably the neuropsychologists report
01:05:21
concluded that Edward Hill was more likely to be vulnerable to influencers within his immediate environment based
01:05:29
on the findings of this report justice bill agreed to take the accused intellectual disability into account
01:05:35
upon determining his sentence on Friday February 3 2017 two years to the day after they dumped a Brendon Bernhard's
01:05:47
remains in the Maribyrnong River justice bills sentenced his three killers to prison
01:05:54
Konstantinos bail Yaris was handed a 24 year prison term with an on parole period of 19 years
01:06:01
Matthew Brennan was given 22 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 17 years and Edward Hill 20 years
01:06:09
imprisonment with a non-parole period of 15 years Konstantinos received the harshest
01:06:16
punishment due to his history of violent crimes coupled with the attitude and disrespect
01:06:22
he showed Brendan during and after his death Edward Hills sentence was the lightest
01:06:28
due to his intellectual disability and the fact that he had not participated in the dismemberment of Brendan's body even
01:06:37
the three men had already been incarcerated for a period of six hundred and ninety days this time served was
01:06:43
deducted from Matthew Brennan and Edward Hill sentences Konstantinos pal yarisis
01:06:49
sentence however was only reduced by 367 days all three men appealed their sentences
01:06:59
on the grounds there was insufficient evidence to warrant the conviction and that the verdict was unreasonable they
01:07:06
reiterated their issues with the prosecution's opening address a trial in which they compared the case that the
01:07:12
broader rice epidemic plaguing society and to the judges decision not to dismiss the jury immediately following
01:07:19
the remarks they maintained they had never intended to kill Brendan Bernhard and to the money was the motivating
01:07:26
factor of the assault appeal judge Christopher Maxwell called the attack of vicious joint assault and to before
01:07:36
rejecting all three appeals asked the convicted men if you were concerned about the money why not let the poor
01:07:45
bloke go [Music] you