GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING: Grisly twist in case of man who died after his leg was amputated with a circular saw – as detectives say he WANTED it cut off and even paid for it
- 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
- Yalu, a banana-picker, was due to appear in Innisfail Magistrates Court today
Police will allege a man who died after his leg was amputated by a battery-powered circular saw paid another man thousands of dollars to perform the amateur surgery.
A 66-year-old Innisfail man died in the early hours of Saturday morning on Fitzgerald Esplanade at Innisfail after he was discovered by passers-by.
Police allege John Yalu, 36, amputated the older man’s lower leg in parklands next to the Esplanade.
Mr Yalu, a banana-picker from Cairns, was due to face Innisfail Magistrates Court today charged with murder.
Innisfail’s Fitzgerald Park on Fitzgerald Esplanade, where the amateur amputation is alleged to have taken place
Detective Inspector Gary Hunter of Cairns police said it was believed the amputation occurred after a prior arrangement between the two men.
Police believe the deceased man paid the 36-year-old $5,000 to undertake 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.
‘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.’
Police will allege the deceased man paid the 36-year-old $5,000 to undertake the amputation
The 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 12pm 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.
Innisfail, 88km south of Cairns in far north Queensland, was the site of the grisly amateur surgery
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