There are fears the man accused of pouring scalding coffee on a defenceless baby is deliberately leaving a trail of ‘fake clues’ in a calculated attempt to evade justice.
Veteran investigator Charlie Bezzina said the 33-year-old foreign national may have even called in a fake tip-off about his identity in a bid to mislead detectives and buy himself time to escape overseas.
And he said he feared the vile fugitive may strike again as he continued to engage in a sick game of ‘cat and mouse’ with detectives.
It comes after Detective Inspector Paul Dalton – the investigator tasked with leading the international manhunt for the man – revealed the alleged assailant had managed to slip out of the country mere hours before police identified him and put a stop on his passport.
The man has been on the run since August 27 after he randomly approached a mother and her nine-month-old baby in Brisbane’s Hanlon Park before dousing the infant with hot coffee from a thermos in an unprovoked attack.
The baby was rushed to Queensland Children’s Hospital with life-threatening burns to his face, upper body and arms and has since undergone four surgeries.
Police tracked the man’s movements in the wake of incident to the southern Brisbane suburb of Tarragindi, where he changed his clothes outside a church.
He then caught a rideshare car into central Brisbane, before moving onto Caxton Street in the city’s inner west before the trail initially ran cold.
Little Luka has undergone four surgeries following the sickening, unprovoked attack
Veteran detective Charlie Bezzina fears the assailant is playing a sick game of ‘cat and mouse’
Det Insp Dalton said police now believed the man travelled to Sydney in the days after the attack and used ‘counter surveillance’ tactics to stay off the grid and avoid detection.
He then managed to escape on an international flight using his own passport on August 31, just 12 hours before his true identity was confirmed by investigators.
Det Insp Dalton said police had lost critical hours in their bid to snare the man after receiving incorrect information about his identity.
‘It soon became apparent to us that this person was aware of police methodologies, was certainly conducting counter-surveillance activities, which made the investigation quite complex,’ he said on Monday.
He said the man had entered Australia numerous times lawfully since 2019, and travelled the country’s eastern seaboard extensively as an itinerant worker in Queensland, Victoria and NSW.
A warrant has since been obtained for his arrest for alleged grievous bodily harm, a charge which carries a possible life sentence.
Although the fugitive’s age and visa status has seen been made public, detectives are yet to reveal his name or the destination of his flight.
Police are seeking this man in connection with the shocking attack on August 27 in Brisbane
The incident occurred at the family-friendly Hanlon Park in Brisbane’s inner south-east
Mr Bezzina, who has led countess high-profile manhunts throughout his decorated career, said police could be attempting to lure the man into a false sense of security by keeping those key details under wraps.
The retired detective said the man could have employed a number of elementary tactics to through police off his trail long enough to escape the country, such as ditching his mobile phone and only using cash.
He said the man may have even phoned in fake tips to police as he tried to plot his escape and warned there would be serious concerns he could act out unpredictably if he felt he was cornered and even strike again.
‘Counter-surveillance can be as simple as, “I’ll call in a bodgy name to police, I’ll leave my phone somewhere, because I know they can trace me on my phone and I’ll just get another prepaid one somewhere else”,’ he said.
‘You know, “I’ll book into a motel with a bodgy name, I’ll avoid using credit cards,” it’s all that. It doesn’t need to be terribly sophisticated.
‘The real concern is that he was thinking to employ these counter surveillance tactics while he is on the run and what it says about his state of mind.
‘There will be a genuine fear he is one of those people who gets off on playing a cat and mouse game with detectives and that thinks he’s smart and wants to be chased by police.
‘I mean, why would anyone want to spill boiling water on a baby? And then they’re looking to employ tactics to escape? You really need to look at the type of person we’re dealing with here – and it’s not good.’
He said that, in the long run, any attempt to evade justice would be futile – and that the man’s alleged crime was so heinous no country in the world would stomach the thought of harbouring the fugitive.
‘There is sometimes a concern that in some third-world countries they don’t particularly have a “care factor” about crimes committed outside their borders,’ he said.
‘But in this case, given the enormity of the hideous act that this man has allegedly perpetrated on a young baby, that will pull at the heartstrings of any government – and any police agency – in the world.
‘And no one will want the bad publicity that would come with them having this suspect, who has allegedly committed this heinous crime, in their country and that they’re not co-operating.’
‘He should hand himself in now before police close in even further because this isn’t go away for him – whether it’s today or tomorrow, or next week, there will come a time and he will get caught.’
Little Luka’s mother says she has been suffering flashbacks of the horrendous ordeal
The baby’s mother says she remains racked with guilt about the attack as her little boy continues to recover from the devastating ordeal.
‘As a result of the attack, fear will continue to surround me daily … Months of recovery will continue for my son,’ she told her followers on Instagram on Monday.
‘Constant questions eating away at me, Why? Why him? Why not me? Why an innocent defenceless baby.
‘This attack has changed our lives and destroyed my mental health for years to come.
‘It has ripped this part of motherhood – a happy joyful time – from beneath me.
‘I’ve lived in constant fear for two weeks that he might attack us again.
‘Although I feel some “comfort” knowing that he is no longer in the country, I feel an excruciating amount of anger that he could not be apprehended immediately.
‘We now have to wait weeks, months or even years until justice is served for our baby.’
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