A man has admitted to his role in the deaths of two men at a business depot – one of whom was found buried in concrete while the other’s remains have never been found.
David Lee Tan is one of several people linked to the deaths of Lachlan Griffiths and Andrew Walsh, who were both killed at a Coopers Plains business within months of each other over 2021 and 2022.
Mr Walsh’s body was found buried in concrete at the business while Mr Griffiths’ remains have never been found. Both men were aged 35.
Samuel Saxby, Lachlan’s brother, excoriated Tan for the pain he had inflicted on their family and for robbing them of their ‘son, brother, father and uncle’.
‘You don’t have the right to play God,’ Mr Saxby said as Tan kept his head bowed and his hands pressed to his face.
‘I hope what you did will haunt you for the rest of your life, but I don’t believe it will.
‘I don’t believe you will ever understand the level of pain and suffering … inflicted on us.’
At an earlier court appearance, Tan had pleaded guilty to Mr Griffiths’ manslaughter and being an accessory after the fact to the murder of Mr Walsh.
During his sentencing hearing on Thursday, the Brisbane Supreme Court was told Mr Walsh was allegedly murdered at the business by Tan’s co-accused, Joshua Robert Searston and Dewald De Klerk, on November 8, 2021.
Mr Searston and Mr De Klerk’s matters remain before the courts and they are yet to enter a plea to their charges.
Tan was involved by taking Mr Walsh upstairs at the business and cleaning the premises following the alleged assault.
Crown prosecutor Chris Cook said Tan then discussed how to dispose of Mr Walsh’s body, settling on burying him in a pit which was then concreted over.
His bloodstained clothes were then burned.
Reading from his victim impact statement, Andrew Walsh’s father said he was filled with a deep sense of loss after learning of his son’s ‘senseless’ death.
‘As survivors, we walk in a parallel universe every day,’ he said, acknowledging no sentence would bring his son back.
The court was told Tan was responsible for the manslaughter of Mr Griffiths just a few months later in January 2022, after he was viciously attacked by another man, Filip Grbavac, at the same business.
Mr Griffiths was last seen alive on January 17 that year.
Mr Cook said Tan was in the same room where Mr Griffiths was killed and pictures of his body, wrapped in plastic, were recovered from his phone.
More photos captured blood all over the walls.
Mr Cook said Tan was more criminally culpable for Mr Griffiths manslaughter because he was ‘supporting’ Grbavac and helped clean up the premises.
Tan was described by Mr Cook as a ‘man without remorse’.
In texts to another person that night, Tan laments at ‘dramas’ in his relationship but says: ‘If you can grab him (Griffiths), f**k I’ll be more than happy to come with you bro, release some of these (sic) f**king anger.’
Reading from his statement, Mr Saxby called Tan ‘pathetic’ and said no amount of time in prison would be enough justice for the family.
‘It will never erase or dull our pain,’ he said.
Bernadette Saxby, Mr Griffiths’ mother, broke down in tears as she recalled the moment she was shown pictures of her son’s body.
‘This is beyond what a mother should have to endure,’ she said.
‘This is beyond my understanding of how humans can treat each other.’
Ms Saxby said the family would never stop looking for their son and believing he would be brought home, promising to try and ‘mend and love and care for each other’.
Malcolm Harrison, Tan’s defence barrister, said his client was heavily involved with drugs at the time and experiencing a marital breakdown.
Multiple supporting references from Tan’s family and a letter of apology were tendered to the court.
‘(Tan) was living a desolate lifestyle at his business premises,’ Mr Harrison said.
Supreme Court Justice Frances Williams reserved her decision and will deliver her judgment on another date.
‘The sentencing follows another man, Billy Lee Bornstein, pleading guilty to Mr Griffiths’ manslaughter on Monday.
The court was told Bornstein had effectively lured the 35-year-old to the Coopers Plains business – under the guise of a drug deal – and played an integral part in allowing Grbavac to ‘get’ to Mr Griffiths.’
Like Tan, Bornstein also did not take part in the fatal assault.
During his sentencing, Bornstein apologised to the Griffiths family and said he never intended to hurt anyone.
‘I understand it’s been difficult for Mr Griffiths’ family, it’s also been very difficult for myself,’ Bornstein read from a handwritten note.
‘I’ve spent a lot of nights awake wondering how Mr Griffiths’ family might be feeling.’
Grbavac, who was charged with Mr Griffiths’ murder, died in prison following an alleged assault by his cellmate.
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