Body found in shallow grave confirmed as Sam Thompson

Jorge Branco

Published: April 7 2017 - 9:10AM

Samuel Thompson's grieving parents have been given confirmation a body found in bush north of Brisbane was their slain son.

Forensic police have completed a post-mortem, finding evidence the 22-year-old Albion man was assaulted before his death.

A police spokesman said it was unclear whether the assault caused his death.

Police believe the man whose abandoned orange Ford Mustang sparked the year's largest murder investigation was likely dead before the car ever turned up at a north Brisbane waterhole that featured extensively in his murder investigation.

Instead they will allege Mr Thompson was killed at accused murderer Roberto Vincenzo Boscaino's Bald Hills home.

Both Mr Boscaino and self-declared anti-Islamic State fighter Ashley Dyball have been charged with Mr Thompson's murder and interfering with his corpse.

On March 7, the 22-year-old left his Albion apartment, heading north on Sandgate Road, where a motorbike dashcam captured his last known public sighting.

Detective Inspector Tim Trezise said police believed he drove to Mr Boscaino's home on Griffith Street, Bald Hills, but didn't leave alive.

He would not reveal the alleged murder weapon or details about how Mr Thompson died.

Mr Thompson was allegedly killed and taken north along the Bruce Highway before he was buried in a shallow grave about 300 metres into Beerburrum State Forest at Caboolture.

One of his accused murderer's allegedly bought supplies including acid and carpet from Bunnings on March 10.

After almost a month of searching, police found Mr Thompson's badly decomposing body on Monday, three days after Mr Dyball became the second man to be charged with his murder

"It will be alleged that they've taken him out there and basically tried to conceal the body," Inspector Trezise said.

"So it would appear there's been a shallow grave dug and some attempts have been made to cover it."

Inspector Trezise said forensic officers worked through the night before moving the remains to the John Tonge Centre for forensic examination, for a post-mortem completed this week.

He said he wasn't aware of Mr Dyball and Mr Thompson having any previous contact but said the victim and Mr Boscaino knew each other.

The investigator was still unsure whether a robbery at the hands of two masked men in September 2016, in which Mr Thompson's car with the numberplate "SAMMO" and several other valuables were stolen, was linked to his death.

The car was eventually recovered but not the expensive, watches, hats and bags inside.

It was spotted left for hours at the Deep Water Bend Reserve on March 7 before being found abandoned in northern New South Wales on March 9.

Police still had no explanation they were willing to share for how the car ended up more than 100 kilometres away from Mr Thompson's alleged murder location.

This story was found at: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/body-found-in-shallow-grave-confirmed-as-sam-thompson-20170406-gvfma6.html