Man faces court on torture, murder charges after 52-year-old’s death

“They were taken to another location, where they were subject to more violence for a number of hours, before later being returned to their vehicle.”

Police suspected the men were taken to multiple locations, which were still being investigated on Saturday.

Knight said the level of violence committed against the three men was above “normal expectations” of assault causing death.

“I’m not saying it’s unprecedented, but it is highly unusual,” he said.

He added that police didn’t “for one second think this was a random event”, and they had not ruled out the potential for organised crime involvement.

“We believe they either knew the offenders personally or were introduced by a third party … and will be alleging there is a degree of organisation in what occurred,” he said.

“There was a planned meeting … the people they met at that location we believe was a co-ordinated effort to extort and rob.”

Knight could not comment on whether police believed drugs were involved in the alleged assault.

Police released images of a silver 2008 XF Jaguar sedan, which they said might be related to the incident, having recovered the 52-year-old’s dark-grey Toyota RAV4 earlier in the week.

“We encourage anybody who has information relating to the vehicle [Jaguar] that appears in those images to please contact Crime Stoppers at the earliest opportunity,” Knight said.

“The investigation is not over.”

Crime Stoppers can be contacted online here or by phoning 1800 333 000.

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