A teenage boy is behind bars, charged with murder, after a Taree man was stabbed to death in his own home in the dead of night earlier this week.
Police were called to a house on Ronald Road at 4.45am on Monday, 6 July, after reports of a stabbing. What they found was grim. A 36-year-old man, critically wounded, fighting for his life.
He had made it to a neighbour’s door begging for help. Despite the efforts of officers and NSW Ambulance paramedics, he died at the scene. The neighbours who tried to help are not involved in the alleged murder.
Two crime scenes went up on Ronald Road. Forensic teams moved in. Detectives from the State Crime Command’s Homicide Squad joined the hunt under Strike Force Hexalon.
The breakthrough came fast. Just two days later, at 2.55pm on Wednesday, 8 July, police swooped on a Taree address a few streets from where the man died. A 16-year-old boy was arrested and taken to Taree Police Station, where he was charged with murder.
Manning-Great Lakes commander Superintendent Grant Erickson revealed the accused and the victim were not strangers, but they weren’t friends either.
“They were known to each other, but not associates,” Supt Erickson said.
He said the case was far from closed.
“This was an extensive investigation by our detectives incorporating information from the public, forensic evidence and other evidence that we are able to substantiate a charge of the murder before the court,” he said.
Was it a drug deal gone wrong? Supt Erickson said no evidence points that way. Was it a break-and-enter that turned deadly? He wouldn’t say. Did the accused have accomplices? That, too, remains part of the ongoing investigation.
What is clear is that locals played a key role in cracking the case. Supt Erickson thanked the community and made a direct appeal to anyone still holding back.
“I am also acutely aware there are members of the community that have information relevant to this alleged offence and it is in their best interests to come forward,” he said.
The 16-year-old was refused bail and will front Parramatta Children’s Court.
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