Mathew Flame (right) is accused of bashing his close friend Liam Anderson (left) to death on Sunday morning after going into an MDMA induced psychosis
The 20-year-old charged with murder for the bashing death of Angry Anderson’s son Liam, is ‘pretty placid’, his employer has said.
Ryan Walsh told Daily Mail Australia Mathew Flame had worked for him as an apprentice plumber for ‘about a year’ and had never been any trouble.
‘He’s pretty placid at work,’ he said. ‘[I’m] a bit shocked.’
Flame allegedly beat Liam Anderson to death in a Queenscliff park in Sydney’s northern beaches in the early hours of Sunday morning, after the pair left a house party together.
He was charged with murder on Monday afternoon.
The pair were reportedly close friends, with others joking on social media the pair were ‘obsessed’ with each other.
But when police arrived, it’s alleged they struggled to get Mr Anderson’s attacker off him, and had to use pepper spray and multiple officers.
‘It was quite a bloody scene,’ Detective Inspector Michael Boutouridis said.
‘The man we have in custody was violent and it took a number of police officers to subdue and arrest him.’
Det Ins Boutouridis added that it was possible Flame, a friend Mr Anderson referred to as ‘homie’, was on drugs at the time.
A source has claimed to the Sydney Morning Herald Flame was in a ‘drug induced psychosis’ from MDMA use, and had no idea what had happened until he woke up in hospital.
Liam Anderson (lower right) and his alleged attacker Mathew Flame (top right) were ‘obsessed with each other’ according to friends. Flame’s employer, Ryan Walsh, said he was ‘a bit shocked’ to hear the news, as Flame was ‘placid’ at work
Liam Anderson (pictured, left with father Gary) was unconscious and suffering from head wounds so severe he was barely recognisable when emergency crews arrived
Police were called to the ‘brutal and bloody’ park where an unconscious Anderson was found
Mr Anderson’s facial injuries were so severe that he was barely recognisable by the time police were able to separate the men.
Mathew Flame was taken into custody on Sunday, and police applied to the court for an ‘urgent order’ to have him undergo forensic testing following the fatal fight.
After a brief court appearance on Monday, Flame remains behind bars.
A family friend told the ABC both Flame’s family and Mr Anderson’s family were heartbroken over the killing, and Flame himself was ‘traumatised and in a state of complete shock’.
Liam has been remembered as a humble, down to earth man with a kind soul, and ‘one of the realest to walk this earth’, by friends.
‘You always told me to be myself no matter what and you helped me see the light when no one else could,’ one man wrote.
‘You are the most positive bro I think I’ve ever met. Rest up my brother, I’m gonna miss you.’
Many recalled his talent as a rapper, and his pure attitude towards his art.
‘I remember talking to him about the joy of busking and connecting with random people on the street,’ one man wrote.
‘There’s a certain few you meet over the years that really stick with you, this fella had a really good soul.’
Even his school teachers were publicly mourning the loss of Mr Anderson, with one saying she taught the 26-year-old and his three siblings.
‘The murder of Liam Anderson robs me of words,’ wrote English teacher Candie Tancred.
Only hours after a night out, police allegedly found Flame (left) beating his friend to death. Flame is the subject of an ‘urgent’ police order that will see him undergo forensic testing and has been charged with murder
Anderson was treated at the scene and rushed to hospital, but died from his injuries en route
‘I taught all of Angry Anderson’s children and it was my pleasure. I do not have a bad word to say about them as they were unfailingly polite, kind and sweet natured to me.
‘Of course, like their mates, they didn’t really enjoy English. Yet they knew how to make friends and held those friends tightly in their hearts and the palm of their hand.
‘My love goes out to his family as they struggle with such cruel knowledge. Liam did not deserve this fate.’
On Monday, friends met at the Pavilion Reserve park, where Mr Anderson was killed on Sunday morning, and left flowers and a moving note behind.
‘Liam, there are no words to express our sorrow in losing you,’ it read.
‘Our tears we can wipe away – the ache in our hearts will always stay.
‘Beautiful Liam now rest in peace.
‘We will always miss your funny, cheeky ways.
‘You were a loving friend and a great mate.
‘All our love. Casey, Emma, Barb, Tony, Rach, Jas, Nick, Rhys and Brad. XXX.’
Meanwhile the man’s father, Gary ‘Angry’ Anderson, touched down in Sydney after dashing back from Western Australia, where his band Rose Tattoo had been touring their 40th anniversary show.
Detectives say they are not ruling out whether drugs were involved in the aspiring musician’s death. Pictured is Anderson (right) with deceased hip-hop artist Mac Miller
The Suddenly singer was a devoted father, and has previously credited his offspring with saving his life.
As the frontman of rock band Rose Tattoo, Anderson once believed he had ‘a licence to do whatever he wanted’, The Daily Telegraph reported.
And for decades, he did. The Australian icon smoked marijuana every day, and injected heroin.
‘In the early days we had the reputation of drinkin’ the most, fightin’ the most, f***ing’ the most, and taking more drugs than anybody else,’ he previously said, referring to that time as the ‘wild days, the good ol’ days, the bad days’.
Anderson had used substances to escape from a childhood of sexual abuse and domestic violence, but that all changed when he became a father for the first time.
When his daughter Roxanne was born, he began to step back, and by the time he had Liam, his youngest child, Anderson had taken a break from being a hard-partying rock and roll career to take up a new role – devoted dad.