Police have re-interviewed two friends of a man shredded alive in an industrial woodchipper who were there at the time of his suspected murder.
Bruce Saunders, 54, died after becoming trapped in the woodchipper while helping a woman clear her drive of trees with two friends on a rural property at Goomboorian near Gympie, southeast Queensland.
His death on November 12 was declared accidental at the time but police have now launched a murder investigation after discovering ‘several items of interest’ during a search of the area on Sunday.
In a press conference today, Detective Inspector Gary Pettiford refused to comment on the evidence but said: ‘We have re-interviewed two friends of the victim who were with him at the time and we have other persons of interest that we will be talking to.’
DI Pettiford did not say who the friends were but said he expected to lay charges ‘in the near future.’
The horrific death of a man (pictured) who was trapped in an industrial woodchipper has been declared suspicious
Bruce Saunders, 54, died after becoming trapped in the woodchipper (pictured) on November 17 last year near Gympie, south-east Queensland
Officers from the Homicide Investigation Unit joined detectives from the Gympie Criminal Investigation Branch to execute a search warrant on Sunday.
Several items were seized for forensic examination and police said they are confident of determining exactly how Mr Saunders died.
‘We have a number of detectives and police experts investigating this incident,’ said Detective Inspector Gary Pettiford.
‘Information we received during the course of our coronial investigations has lead us to believe that the death is suspicious.’
Mr Saunders, who worked as a butcher in his father’s shop Saunders Quality Meats, was described as a ‘decent fella with a heart of gold’ by friends.
His sister and nephew described him as ‘a happy go lucky person’ and ‘someone you could sit and talk to about anything’.
He was believed to have died instantly as he fell into the machine.
Two of his friends were believed to be up a nearby road when the incident occurred and fought to rescue him. One of them dialled 000, Inspector Pettiford said.
The men were on the last day of helping their friend, who had recently gone through divorce and was selling her house, clear her driveway of trees. Police have not linked the woman to Mr Saunder’s death.
Paramedics were unable to revive Mr Saunders after arriving at the scene about 8pm.
Police officers executed a search warrant on Sunday and seized items of interest (pictured is the local area)
Gympie police acting inspector Paul Algie said the circumstances were horrific.
‘He was placing a tree into a tree shredder; he’s become entangled within the machine and has died as a result of his injuries,’ he said.
‘He was found by his two friends, they attempted to get him out of the machine and were unable to do so.’
The scene was one of the most harrowing he had come across in 16 years of policing, he said.
‘I went out there this morning to speak to officers from Brisbane and I’d have to say it’s one of the worst incident scenes I’ve ever seen.
‘There was nothing that could be done to save this gentleman.’