Brothers charged over stabbing death of homeless man at Maroubra

Ava Benny-Morrison

Published: July 27 2017 - 5:16PM

A "wannabe" Bra Boy gang member and his teenage brother have been charged over the fatal stabbing of a homeless man in Maroubra in Sydney's east.

Peter Hofmann, 68, was living in his car in the beachside suburb after a string of failed investments and scams resulted in him going broke.

He refused offers of accommodation from friends and family, and instead opted to live out of his 1990's-model Ford Laser.

The retired bus driver's body was found inside his car, parked on Mons Ave, on the night of June 21. He had been stabbed a number of times.

Just over a month after he was killed, police on Thursday charged young brothers Ray and Jackson Travers with murder.

The duo are well-known in the surfing community in Maroubra and are the sons of former amateur boxer Ronnie Reardon.

Twenty-year-old Ray has the words "my brother's keeper" - a slogan commonly associated with the Bra Boys gang - tattooed across his stomach.

However an associate of Ray has described him as a "wannabe" who was not a member of the group. The Bra Boys clan has strong roots in the Maroubra community and gained notoriety in the media following the 2005 Cronulla riots.

Less than two weeks after the siblings allegedly stabbed Mr Hofmann to death, the pair were accused of gatecrashing an out-of-control teenage birthday party in Matraville.

Ray and his 18-year-old brother Jackson allegedly climbed a fence to get into the 16th birthday party on the night of July 7.

The gate crashing sparked a brawl and ended with the alleged assault of the birthday girl's 60-year-old father and a 32-year-old security guard.

A 16-year-old boy was also stomped on during the melee.

Ray and Jackson were arrested on July 10 and have been in custody ever since.

On Thursday afternoon, Eastern Beaches detectives charged the brothers with murder.

They were refused bail to appear in Waverley Local Court on Friday.

Earlier this month police investigating Mr Hofmann's death turned their focus to the Lucas Heights tip, where they searched for clothing linked to the alleged murder.

Officers also revealed they had found the knife used in the attack.

Mr Hofmann's sister, Patricia Hofmann, said she pleaded with her brother to declare bankruptcy so his family could put a roof over his head after he hit finical strife.

"Being fiercely independent and honourable, he wanted to work things out himself and repay all his debts."

She said her brother was a "quiet and gentle man who'd never hurt anyone".

"Yet someone felt they had the right to brutally attack him and leave him to die alone," Ms Hofmann said.

This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/brothers-charged-over-stabbing-death-of-homeless-man-at-maroubra-20170727-gxk1nm.html