Palmer, 34, had a few minor encounters with police in his short life, but the motivation for his alleged murder had remained a mystery.
A 52-year-old man was charged with murder.Credit: NSW Police
Baziad, 52, had travelled between Queensland and Indonesia in the years after the alleged murder making it difficult for police to nail him down, until just a few weeks ago when he travelled to Ingleburn in Sydney to find work as a labourer.
He was arrested during a vehicle stop on Monday, when detectives delivered the news that he had finally been arrested for the murder of Jason Palmer.
“He’d probably been holding that dark secret for a long time and all of a sudden the past has caught up with him. Not only caught up with him, it’s come back to haunt him,” homicide squad commander Detective Superintendent Daniel Doherty said of the allegations.
He faced Campbelltown Local Court on Tuesday where he did not apply for bail.
He will return to the same court in August.
“This 52-year-old man was known to Jason Palmer and had been in a relationship with Mr Palmer’s wife at the time and the motive was obviously to continue on a relationship with that person. We will allege in court that he was very jealous of her and very possessive and obsessed with her,” Doherty said.
He’d probably been holding that dark secret for a long time and all of a sudden the past has caught up with him.
Daniel Doherty, NSW Police
“Mr Palmer had been stabbed numerous times and there was a lot of passion in relation to this murder, so that’s our motive that we will produce in court … we’ve compiled a very strong circumstantial case over the years.”
Police will rely on forensic evidence gathered at the time of the alleged murder and during the reinvestigation, interviews with family and witnesses and telecommunications messages.
Palmer worked with his wife at a traffic survey company and made a bit of extra cash delivering phone books before he died. He was described by police at the time of his death as being a devoted father.
Detectives investigated the alleged murder and pursued multiple inquiries at the time, police said, but did not charge anyone with the crime.
A coronial inquest in 2007 determined Palmer had been stabbed at a unit on Barremma Road, Lakemba, where police say Baziad lived, before his body was moved to the Nepean River.
Jason Palmer’s body was found in the Nepean River at Menangle.Credit: Google
Detectives believe there is at least one more person in the community that had a hand in Palmer’s murder. Doherty said it would have taken another person to aid in not only the murder, but the disposing of the body
Doherty praised the work of investigators who forensically reexamined the case, allowing for the pursuing of murder charges two decades after the murder.
“It’s like finding a key to a door and going into a room and finding some further evidence, then finding another key to another door … the investigators should be commended for their tenacious investigation,” he said.
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