Restaurant worker lay dead in luxury home owned by a Labor power couple for DAYS – and the government executives had no idea they were living with a corpse
- Kim Chau, a 39-year-old restaurant worker, found dead just before 6pm Monday
- On Tuesday, a 21-year-old man known to Ms Chau, was charged with her murder
- Ms Chau was reported missing on Sunday after not showing up to work
- The accused is due to appear in Adelaide’s Magistrate Court on Wednesday
A 21-year-old man has been charged with the murder of a restaurant worker who lay dead in a luxury home for days.
The body of Kim Chau, 39, was found inside the house on Sturt Street in Adelaide’s CBD just before 6pm on Monday.
The home is owned by Labor power couple Lois Boswell – who is SA Human Services Department deputy chief executive – and her husband, Health deputy chief executive Donald Frater, The Advertiser reported.
Police said Ms Chau’s body had been hidden in an upstairs room of the house and its occupants wouldn’t have known the corpse was there.
Ms Chau had lived at the property for about a year.
‘In terms of how the woman died, I can say that she was stabbed,’ Detective Superintendent Des Bray said.
‘The body had been concealed so anybody going about daily activities in the house, walking through the house, going into rooms, wouldn’t have seen the victim.’
Kim Chau, a 39-year-old restaurant worker, was found dead just before 6pm on Monday
‘In terms of how the woman died, I can say that she was stabbed,’ Detective Superintendent Des Bray said
The 21-year-old man – who stayed at the home on and off – was found at a nearby halfway house and charged with murder on Tuesday.
Det Supt Bray said the victim and the man were known to each other.
‘There were some things in particular that made this person stand out, certainly proximity was one of those things,’ he said.
‘He’s lived at the (Sturt St) premises on and off for a period of two years. We’re not looking for any other offenders in relation to this matter.’
He said Ms Chau had been the victim of a ‘horrible crime’.
‘From the very little I know, she’s led a blameless life,’ he said.
Ms Chau was found dead in an upstairs room of the house. She had lived at the property for about a year
Ms Chau was last seen on Thursday and was reported missing on Sunday when she didn’t show up to work and missed social events
Ms Chau was last seen on Thursday and was reported missing on Sunday when she didn’t show up to work and missed social events.
Police believe she was killed on Friday and said the woman’s car had been found dumped behind a pizza bar in the city.
The possible murder weapon had been found, but confirmation would depend on forensic analysis, police said.
The luxury, four-bedroom property (pictured above) is in the heart of the city
Lois Boswell and Don Frater, who own the property (pictured), have expressed their heartbreak over Ms Chau’s death
Mr Frater and Ms Boswell expressed their heartbreak over Ms Chau’s death.
In a statement, the pair said Ms Chau ‘was a friend who has lived with our family over the last year’.
‘While we are devastated by these events, there are family members and friends who are primary in our thoughts,’ they said.
The accused man is due to appear in Adelaide Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
Mr Frater and Ms Boswell (pictured) expressed their heartbreak over Ms Chau’s death