Police have revealed a major update at the inquest into the death of an apprentice who was found dead at the side of a road after a night out 14 years ago.
On the fourth day of a coronial inquest into Josh Warneke’s death, it emerged that there are 15 people who cannot be eliminated as suspects in the 21-year-old’s death.
Mr Warneke’s body was discovered on Old Broome Road, in Broome in Western Australia’s Kimberley region, on February 26, 2010, shortly after he had left a nightclub in the popular resort town.
A reward of $1million has been offered for information that helps catch his killer.
On Thursday, the inquest, which has moved from Broome to Perth, heard that there were also another ‘three groups of suspects’ who could not be ruled out as being involved.
The tradie was last seen walking near Old Broome and Bagot roads at around 2.45am and a taxi driver found him with a severe head injury shortly after, the West Australian reported.
Detective Inspector David Palmer, who led a team that carried out a cold case review into Mr Warneke’s death in 2017-2018, told the court they concluded he died after either being struck by a vehicle, being assaulted with a weapon, or both.
Around 850 witnesses were spoken with or identified during the police investigations into Mr Warneke’s death, the inquest heard.
On the fourth day of a coronial inquest into Josh Warneke’s (pictured) death, it emerged that there are 15 people who cannot be eliminated as suspects in the 21-year-old’s death
Some of the suspects’ names were mentioned in court on Thursday, but a suppression order means they cannot be named publicly.
One of the suspects told a woman that he hit Mr Warneke with a tomahawk and that he could point out where the weapon was.
But the police later ruled the man was known to ‘talk rubbish’, the court heard.
Sergeant David Magorian, one of state’s most experienced crash investigators, said he did not believe Mr Warneke was hit by a vehicle on the night he died.
He said the lack of tyre marks at the scene, Mr Warneke’s injuries and the fact his thongs were found close to his body led him and his major crash squad colleagues to conclude a vehicle wasn’t involved.
‘My view… is I can’t think of a scenario where he was struck by a vehicle that would leave him lying in that position,’ Sgt Magorian said.
‘I can’t think of a scenario where there was contact with a vehicle. He looked too neat. It’s inconsistent with what we would normally find.’
A crash report into Mr Warneke’s death also concluded he was not hit by a vehicle or something sticking out from a vehicle.
Sgt Magorian said he agreed with those conclusions.
Earlier this week, taxi driver Philip Nordfelt denied that he bumped the tradie with his car in a McDonald’s car park 30 minutes before Mr Warneke was found dead less than a kilometre away.
He also said he could not remember a passenger in his taxi saying ‘please don’t hit him’.
‘I’m positive that I didn’t,’ Mr Nordfelt told journalists outside the Coroner’s Court after his testimony, the ABC reported.
The young tradie was captured on CCTV in a McDonald’s car park 30 minutes before he was found dead
A taxi driver denied that he bumped the tradie with his car in a McDonald’s car park (pictured) 30 minutes before Mr Warneke was found dead
On Monday, the inquest heard that a man who was charged and later acquitted of Mr Warneke’s manslaughter would not be giving evidence.
Indigenous man Gene Gibson was charged with Mr Warneke’s murder in 2012 – before eventually pleading guilty to manslaughter.
He was jailed for more than seven years and had served nearly five when WA’s supreme court found the ‘integrity of the plea was impugned’ and his conviction should be quashed. He is not one of the 15 suspects identified by police.
The inquest continues.
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