Leg amputation 'murder': Queensland fruit picker allegedly paid $5k after flying from Vanuatu


Fresh details emerge about banana picker accused of killing his mate after ‘being paid $5k to chop his leg off’ – as it’s revealed he recently arrived from Vanuatu and left his young family behind to work in Australia

  • Police believe a 66-year-old man paid another man $5,000 to amputate his leg
  • A 36-year-old man, John Yalu, has been charged with murder over the incident
  • Police say the men knew each other and the saw belonged to the dead man
  • The case went before Innisfail Magistrates Court today and Yalu is in custody
  • Yalu left his family in Vanuatu to come to Australia to work in June last year  


A banana picker from Vanuatu accused of amputating a man’s leg with a circular saw before he died from the horrific injury had left behind a young family to do farm work in Australia just a few months ago.  

A 66-year-old man died in the early hours of Saturday morning on Fitzgerald Esplanade at Innisfail, North Queensland, after he was discovered by passers-by.

Police allege John Yalu, 36, amputated the older man’s lower leg in parklands next to the street. 

His social media account is littered with pictures of his young children in Vanuatu, who he left behind in June last year to travel to Australia for work.

Yalu is understood to have been living at a local accommodation facility since arriving in Queensland.

Police allege John Yalu, 36, a fruitpicker, amputated the older man’s lower leg in parklands at Innisfail, 88km south of Cairns in far north Queensland

A 66-year-old Innisfail man died in the early hours of Saturday morning on Fitzgerald Esplanade (pictured) after he was discovered by passers-by

A 66-year-old Innisfail man died in the early hours of Saturday morning on Fitzgerald Esplanade (pictured) after he was discovered by passers-by

Fellow farm workers and countrymen who lived with the Vanuatu national at the Rankin St property said they were ‘shocked’ by his arrest, the Courier Mail reports. 

They said they flew to Australia on the same plane as Yalu in June last year and all quarantined together before moving into the accommodation centre. 

The charges against Yalu were put before Innisfail Magistrates Court on Monday, and he was remanded in custody awaiting a hearing. 

Detective Inspector Gary Hunter of Cairns police said it was alleged the amputation occurred after a prior arrangement between the two men. 

Police allege the deceased man paid the 36-year-old $5,000 to perform the amputation. 

‘Police will allege that at 3.48am (Saturday), the deceased person and another male person arrived at a location on Fitzgerald Esplanade at Innisfail,’ Det Insp Hunter he said.

‘Both the people left the vehicle and went to a grassed area not far away and remained at that location for about 20 minutes.

Yalu (pictured) left a young family behind in Vanuatu to travel to Australia to work as a fruit picker last June

Yalu (pictured) left a young family behind in Vanuatu to travel to Australia to work as a fruit picker last June

Police believe the deceased man paid the 36-year-old (pictured) $5,000 to perform the amputation

Police believe the deceased man paid the 36-year-old (pictured) $5,000 to perform the amputation 

Innisfail's Fitzgerald Park, where the amateur amputation is alleged to have taken place

Innisfail’s Fitzgerald Park, where the amateur amputation is alleged to have taken place 

‘A male person has then commenced to saw the deceased person’s leg off using a circular saw.

‘A short time later, the male person in this matter has assisted the deceased person, who is 66 years of age, return to the vehicle and a short time later has left the area on foot.

‘Police will allege that these two people were known to each other.’

The battery-powered saw used in the incident is believed to belong to the deceased man.

The people who found the man called an ambulance but he died before it arrived.

Yalu was found at a home in Innisfail at about noon on Sunday and charged with one count of murder. 

The police investigation into the relationship between the two men is continuing, with an appeal for any CCTV or dashcam footage from the area. 

Yalu’s legal representative made no bail application on Monday and the next hearing was set for June 6. 

Innisfail, 88km south of Cairns in far north Queensland, was the site of the grisly amateur surgery

Innisfail, 88km south of Cairns in far north Queensland, was the site of the grisly amateur surgery

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