A father and son have been found guilty of murdering an ice dealer whose burnt remains were found in a forest in southeast Queensland.
Stephen John Armitage, 48, and son Matthew Leslie Armitage, 25, were on Tuesday convicted by a Brisbane Supreme Court jury of killing Shaun Barker in late 2013.
The men, from Cooloola Cove more than two hours drive north of Brisbane, were also previously found guilty of torturing Mr Barker and interfering with his corpse.
The court was told the pair held Mr Barker in a large Esky before the slaying.
Father: Stephen John Armitage, pictured tied to a bed in a bizarre photograph, was found guilty of murdering ice dealer Shaun Barker
Son: Matthew Leslie Armitage (posing with a wild boar) was also found guilty of murder by a Brisbane Supreme Court jury
The younger Armitage poses in colourful boardshorts with a dead boar
The prosecution had alleged Mr Barker was tied to a tree with honey smeared on his genitals to attract ants.
He may have had fingers cut off as he was tortured for information, the court also heard.
According to local newspaper The Gympie Times, prosecutor Glen Cash claimed the older Armitage told a witness: ‘We smashed his kneecaps in, broke his fingers…. smashed his face in. You wouldn’t even recognise him’.
The report said both men cried out after the verdict was handed down, with Stephen Armitage saying: ‘Injustice, your Honour. Didn’t do it’.
The Times said his son added: ‘I didn’t do it’.
Prosecutors claimed to the court that Stephen Armitage told a witness the Shaun barker’s body was ‘unrecognisable’
The pair were found guilty by a Queensland Supreme Court jury on Tuesday afternoon
Shaun Barker was reported missing by his family on January 14, 2014.
The 33-year-old’s charred remains were found in the Tooloora State Forest near Gympie on April 10 that year.
The two are due to be sentenced later this year alongside William Francis Dean, who was also found guilty of murder in March 2017.