Police are probing links to drugs and organised crime after the rotting body of a Starbucks worker was found ‘bound and gagged’ on the side of a main road.
The decomposed body of 33-year-old Thai national, Wachira ‘Mario’ Phetmang, was discovered wrapped in a plastic material and covered with a mattress near Sydney’s Olympic Park on June 6.
New South Wales Police told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday they were investigating whether organised crime and or drugs were linked to the murder.
Other motives have not been ruled out.
A badly decomposed body which was wrapped up and dumped on the side of a major road has been identified as Wachira ‘Mario’ Phetmang (pictured)
The 33-year-old Thai national had been living in Australia for the last 10 years, most recently at Hurstville in Sydney’s south (pictured is the murder victim at a service station – the last time he was seen)
Mr Phetmang’s body was discovered on Homebush Bay Drive at Sydney’s Olympic Park by a passing truck driver at about 10.30pm on June 6.
The driver reportedly pulled over in bad weather and saw the wrapped-up body, which was taken to a morgue for an autopsy and forensic tests.
‘A post mortem examination revealed Mario had been seriously assaulted, and his cause of death was blunt-force trauma,’ New South Wales Police said.
The Thai national had been living in Australia for the past 10 years, most recently at Hurstville in Sydney’s south.
Police are making a fresh appeal for information about the murder victim’s last movements (pictured is Mr Phetmang)
Detectives have revealed Mr Phetmang was last seen at a service station at South Hurstville about 7.30pm on May 25 (pictured)
Detectives have revealed Mr Phetmang was last seen at a service station at South Hurstville about 7.30pm on May 25.
He had been in the Sydney CBD and the Guildford area during the day, and Homicide Squad Commander, Detective Superintendent Scott Cook said police hope the release of CCTV footage from that evening will lead to a breakthrough.
‘At this stage, we do not know where Mario went after leaving the service station, and we are appealing for information about his movements from then until his body was located almost two weeks later,’ Det Supt Cook said.
‘We are particularly appealing to motorists who have dash cameras to review their footage to see if they may have filmed the vehicle during that time.
He was travelling in a silver 2004 Hyundai Terracan, with Victorian registration URK109 (pictured)
‘He [Mr Phetmang] has no criminal history, he was a well-liked individual,’ Dept Supt Cook said.
Mr Phetmang was travelling in a silver 2004 Hyundai Terracan, with Victorian registration URK109 when he was last seen.
Strike Force Sinder was established to investigate Mr Phetmang’s murder.
Police are appealing for fresh information from the public.