A man reported missing eight years ago was either murdered or “left to perish”, the police officer in charge of the investigation told an inquest yesterday.
The inquest into the disappearance and suspected death of Maxwell Francis George, 48 at the time he went missing, began this week in Dubbo Coroner’s Court.
Mr George was reported missing from a property near Brewarrina in March 2000 and police do not believe he has been seen since, nor have his remains been found.
The court heard the owner of the property from which Mr George went missing, Gordon Tremain, reported him missing to Brewarrina Police on March 27.
Doctor Andrew Frukacz yesterday was the first witness to take the stand, where he said Mr George suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.
He said when Mr George was suffering from symptoms associated with the illness he would complain that people were trying to “monitor” him and, at times, thought people were trying to hurt him.
Dr Frukacz said Mr George had been on an injectable medication taken every fortnight which, when he consistently took the right dosage, would keep him relatively stable.
Dr Frukacz told the court he could not recall Mr George ever displaying “attempts to hurt himself”.
The last time the Dr Frucakz saw Mr George he said his patient had been “behaving quite well”.
Officer in charge of the investigation Detective Senior Constable Peter Freer took the stand second and gave evidence for nearly three hours.
He said it was his opinion that Mr George had been murdered on the property near Brewarrina, called ‘Salvation’, or was left there to die.
Furthermore, the inquest heard that Detective Senior Constable Freer believed Mr Tremain was directly involved.
“It is my belief that Maxwell George was either murdered on the property ‘Salvation’, or was left at the property ‘Salvation’ to perish,” he read from his statement.
“It is my belief that Gordon Tremain was responsible or has direct information in relation to his disappearance.”
Detective Senior Constable Freer also said he believed Mr Tremain had “benefited greatly” from Mr George’s disappearance.
The court heard of a shared farming agreement between the two men, involving the property ‘Salvation’ and Mr George’s property, ‘Rockdale’, which was on a five-year lease to Mr Tremain.
The inquest continues this week before deputy State Coroner Paul MacMahon.