A grim discovery in the Maribyrnong River | Forensic Files

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please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website Mount Macedon looms 65 kilometres
northwest of Melbourne City it's tree cloud a mountainous peak overshadowing a small gold rush era heritage township
bearing its namesake from the summit Mount Macedon provides a sprawling scenic view of the surrounding native
forests into rural Victorian countryside with the cityscape in the far distance several creeks branch out from the
mountain including two that feed into the much larger Maribyrnong River a winding 40 kilometer waterway that heads
chiefly southward through the factory districts and residential suburbs of the northwestern fringe of the city before
joining melbourne central waterway the Yarra River eventually emptying into Port Phillip Bay as the second major
river in metropolitan Melbourne the Maribyrnong originally served as an arterial shipping route in the city's
west fostering the development of the area's industrial growth as a result the quality of the water degraded with
decades of contamination pollution and a litter turning the river a murky brown color
in recent times most of the riverside industry has been closed with the Maribyrnong re-established as a
recreational hub for boating fishing rowing and cruises an abundance of bushland parks and sporting fields now
border the length of the river which is framed by various bike paths and walking
trails at around midday on Thursday February 5 2015 - walkers were strolling along the eastern banks of the
Maribyrnong river in Moonee ponds a suburb six kilometers out of Melbourne they passed the renowned Boathouse
restaurant owned by celebrity chef Gary Megan which was bustling as usual as was
the anglers tavern a Riverside pub was located a little further downstream on the adjacent sure the Maribyrnong park
which flanks the popular eatery was full of visitors dog walkers joggers and a children enjoying the warm summer day at
1:30 p.m. as the pair continued along the palm and a gum tree lined track they noticed something floating upstream in
the murky waters of the river it was a white plastic grocery bag with something inside upon taking a closer look they
immediately contacted police who promptly arrived to the riverbank curious patrons of the nearby
establishments watched on as officers stood on a wooden jetty and used a pole to fish the bag from the water they
placed it on that jetty and peered inside discovering the bag contained what appeared to be a reasonably fresh
severed human limb [Music] [Music] officers at the scene conducted an initial examination of the limb and
identified it to be the forearm of a Caucasian male severed at the elbow went arrest they were certain the victims
hand had been intentionally removed to hinder efforts to identify the remains through fingerprint analysis there was
only one distinguishable feature on the forearm a faded tattoo of a devilish caricature wearing baggy pants and
holding a three-pronged pitchfork in its left hand and what looked like a spray can in its right the grisly discovery
sparked the full-scale search of the Maribyrnong River which was an enormous and time-consuming task encompassing the
water police state emergency service and the police search and rescue squad as the various teams began trudging the
riverbank and its rocky surrounds sifting through the junk and muck that had accumulated over the years police
divers in full scuba gear plunged into the shallow murky waters to scour beneath the surface their vision was
severely limited as they cautiously navigated around to the large tree branches and submerged items that
littered the riverbed in a slow and methodical process police boats equipped with sonar equipment scanned the depths
of the river two kilometers in either direction from the side of the discovery overseen by a police helicopter circling
above search efforts were complicated by the fact that the Maribyrnong was a tidal
river influenced by Port Phillip Bay which sat at its large coastal mouth the changing ocean tides altered the rivers
flow and water levels causing debris to constantly shift directions up and downstream police understood that if
there were more human remains to be discovered in the waterway they may have since been displaced and directed
elsewhere it also meant the location where the forearm had been found wasn't necessarily the same place that had been
originally discarded the intensive police presence caught the attention of the media and passing on lookers who
swarmed the scene to observe the grim search meanwhile detectives began door-knocking the local area and
collecting footage from security cameras located at need the riverbanks the grisly discovery came as a shock to the
residence of Moonee ponds where such horrific crimes were unheard of in their esteemed and trendy suburb populated by
young professionals families and to retirees due to the method in which the body was dismembered and to the
perpetrators calculated efforts to conceal the victim's identity rumors circulated as to whether the
death was gang-related just over three hours after the forearm was discovered search crews had shifted two kilometers
downstream to the suburb of Essendon West there under the aplans Street pedestrian bridge a popular dive spot
for swimmers police and state emergency service personnel spotted a second plastic bag in the water
they pulled it out and discovered it contained another human limb although this one was not as easily identifiable
as the first hours later at 7 p.m. two kilometers upstream from where the forearm was originally sighted police
spotted a black plastic bag floating down the river upon retrieving it the bag contained what officers could only
describe as a small amount of human flesh the recovered human remains were sent to the Victorian Institute of
Forensic Medicine for examination where forensic pathologists performed multiple
autopsies to confirm all the body parts belonged to the same unidentified male they also determined the remains had
been in the river for up to seven days it was clear to police that the victim had been murdered and dismembered
elsewhere before the Maribyrnong had been used as a dumping ground to discard his remains they were certain
more body parts had yet to be discovered but given the late hour and the lack of
visibility dive efforts were suspended until the following morning search efforts continued on land overnight as
the gruesome nature of the case put pressure on police to swiftly identify the victim and capture his killer
the next morning Friday February 6 divers re-entered the river at first light as police continued to comb the
adjoining landscape in surrounding streets after failing to uncover any further remains by midday the focus of
the search was shifted to the area surrounding the Afton Street Bridge the site of the second discovery at 1:30
p.m. divers began extensively combing that portion of the river but after hours of
fruitless searching were forced to call it a day the next step the homicide detectives was to try and identify the
victim using the only clue they had thus far the distinctive four aren't I do of the
pitchfork wielding devil they cross-checked the image with missing person reports and the criminal
database whilst making inquiries with local tattoo parlors and graffiti artists to
hasten efforts police released an image of the tattoo to the media in the hope that a member of the public might
recognize the artwork and come forward in an accompanying statement Detective Inspector McHugh stated the killer made
steps to try and hide his identity and to we're taking steps to try and identify him detective Hughes expressed
sympathy towards the victim's family who would likely learn if their loved ones death from the ensuing media reports
quote I think it's important from the family's perspective we know this is a terrible way for them to find out but I
think it will get a breakthrough in our investigation meanwhile the search of the Maribyrnong River continued the
waters hadn't been closed off to the public so River goers continued to populate the waterway as it was scoured
for body parts on the third morning of the police search a woman took to the water in her rowboat and headed towards
the Maribyrnong Road bridge in Moonee ponds near the location where the forearm was recovered at 11:00 a.m. she
spotted a plastic bag floating under the bridge and paddled over to take a closer
look realizing it contained flesh she caught the attention of a passing police boat
and used her paddle to push the back over to the officers three and a half hours later two local men were walking
their dogs alongside the river as they passed the Essendon canoe club on the adjacent side they spotted a white
plastic bag that had washed up on the riverbank and wedged between rocks the men recognized the gray human knee
protruding from the bag and immediately flagged down a police boat reporters that the scene crowded around the men as
one explained I feel awful it's someone whilst the other described the discovery
is surreal padding kids are enjoying a nice game of cricket and - there's a body part floating near them as the two
latest discoveries were within 200 meters of the Maribyrnong Road bridge police shifted their attention back to
this area but after another day of searching their efforts yielded no further discoveries
meanwhile the image of the forearm tattoo was circulating on news sites throughout Australia and as far away is
the United Kingdom and in New Zealand as no one had immediately come forward to identify the tattooed man it was
presumed he either had a little family or lived interstate or overseas police had appealed for anyone with information
to contact Crimestoppers an organisation which allows people to provide anonymous
information to authorities the service was flooded with calls but none led to the identity of the victim then the
Victoria Police Facebook page received messages from the public alerting them to a post on the internet forum website
reddit in which users had identified the origin of the tattoos pitchfork wielding
devil the image was featured on a 1997 album titled tooth and nail released by three-piece Australian punk band two
downtime the album's cover art depicted the exact same devil from the tattoo the
only difference was that instead of a spray can in its right hand downtimes devil was holding a bouquet of yellow
Arum lilies an ornamental plant variety commonly displayed at funerals given the similarities between the
tattoo and the album's artwork the web sleuths who made the connection speculated whether the victim was known
to the band downtime had since drifted apart lead singer Billy Hughes died in a car
crash in 2011 drummer Brendan piece no longer perform and a bassist James meek now played for various other groups
although the band originally hailed from Sydney they had amassed the decent underground following in Melbourne
during the nineties former band manager in that race was certain he would remember if a devoted downtime fan had
gotten the tattoo at the time as they surely would have come forward to show it off to their idols as it turned out
Dan times bassist James meek had copied the devil artwork for his band's album cover from a skateboarding and a
graffiti magazine he had taken some creative liberties in his reproduction giving the devil a bouquet of yellow
lilies instead of the can of spray-paint and held in the original magazine version the magazine artwork and the
victims tattoo were compared side-by-side revealing an exact match evolving news reports on the tattoo
caught the attention of a local Melbourne resident runnel DeWitt Moore who arrived at the North Melbourne
Police Station to inform officers that his 32 year old son Brendan David Bernard had the exact same devil tattoo
on his inner forearm having it inked when he was 16 years old the last time Ronald had seen his son
was over a month earlier on Christmas Day of 2014 the Brendan's lack of contact since the holiday was not
unusual as he often went long periods of time without getting in touch as such the family had not been concerned about
his whereabouts and he hadn't been reported as missing Brandon's friends knew him simply as be and he wore a
distinctive chain around his neck adorned with the letter he was the eldest of four children
of whom had since relocated to Europe but the other two resided in Melbourne his mother had passed away in 2008 for
the past five years Brendan had been homeless intermittently staying at men shelters until the end of 2012 when he
took to couchsurfing between the homes of his friends a long-term heroin user he was also known to deal drugs which
caused the rift between his family although they did not agree with his life choices they still cared deeply for
Brendon and hoped he would get his life back on track they made sure to touch base with him every once in a while
including at Christmas time to determine if there was a familial connection ronald Whitmore provided investigators
with his own DNA to compare against the unidentified remains a significantly faster process than checking the DNA
against their extensive databases as police awaited the results of the tests Detective Inspector McHugh's fronted the
media announcing the tattoo had been recognized by the victim's family he disclosed the victim to be a mean aged
in his 30s who lived on the fringes of Melbourne CBD but withheld a brendan Bernhard's name explaining he would not
disclose his identity until the DNA had been confirmed through forensic testing although he expressed the confidence
that they now knew who the victim was remarking everything points to that family's relative adding that a motive
for the murder and his exact cause of death remained unclear detective Hughes thanked the public and media for their
support during the course of their investigations stating the response from the public has been tremendous despite
the confronting nature of these discoveries people have acted quickly and contacted police immediately the
information provided has enabled investigators to act quickly and secure the items proving crucial in the invest
Gatien I'd appeal to the offender out there we are methodically working our way towards him or her and if they would
like to contact Crimestoppers we'll certainly make ourselves available for interview a lot of people find it
themselves in circumstances they have no control over obviously if there are associates of the offender perhaps who
are not actively involved in the death we'd certainly be interested in talking to them if they come forward the results
of Ronald Whitmore's DNA tests came back positive confirming a familial match existed between himself and to the
victim this result coupled with the tattoo identification confirmed the Maribyrnong River remains
were those of Brendan Bernhard the verification devastated Brendan's family who struggled to comprehend the
depravity of his death and at the horrific ordeal he suffered Ronald provided police with a recent
photograph of his deceased son to help with their investigations he portrayed a smiling and relaxed Brandon as he stood
at the tram stop on the corner of Gertrude and Napier streets in Fitzroy his shoulder-length brown hair was
covered by a black hat which matched his black attire a collection of keychains dangling around his neck the photo was
released to the media publicly naming Brendan Bernard as the men whose remains had been found in the
river and to the hunt for his killer was initiated homicide detectives extended their investigations to the locations
Brendan was known to frequent and began questioning his relatives and friends John Malkovich
Brendan's stepfather came forward as one of the last people to have seen Brendan
in the days preceding the discovery of his remains John maintained a good relationship with
his stepson with the pair having last seen each other on Tuesday January 27 nine days before Brendan's body parts
were found he met his stepfather outside at John's city-based office where he asked to borrow some money John agreed
transferring $100 into Brendan's bank account but he hadn't heard from him since when John saw the devil tattoo in
media reports he immediately recognized that as similar to Brendan's but the image was blurry so he wasn't 100%
certain wanting to make sure his stepson was alright John proceeded to try to find him
he knew Brandon was staying with a friend Matthew Brennan who lived in an apartment on O'Shaughnessy Street in
North Melbourne the apartment was part of a multi-story Housing Commission complex owned by the
Australian government which provided shelter to low income earners and people dependent on social welfare Matthew had
been allowing Brendan to stay at his place temporarily free of rent when John visited the apartment looking for
Brendan Matthew seemed reluctant to open the door informing him that Brendan had packed up
his things and left the weight prior detectives checked CCTV footage and were able to confirm that Brendan had met his
stepfather in the CBD On January 27 as John had stated but were unable to track his movements from there onwards they
approached Matthew Brennan finding him in the company of another friend Konstantinos Belarus who resided in the
same O'Shaughnessy Street housing complex when asked about Brendan's whereabouts
Matthew and Konstantinos told the officers that he had quote done a runner after he was confronted by two unnamed
men for selling them drugs they described as batshit neither of the men had heard from Brandon since detectives
proceeded to Dornoch the apartment complex to see if any of the residents had witnessed anything unusual in the
days before Brendan's departure neighbors recalled seeing Brendan at Matthews apartment on Tuesday January 27
after he had returned from meeting his stepfather in the city the front door to Matthews apartment was
open and the two men were seen in the company of Konstantinos Bell yaris his girlfriend and a fourth president named
Edward Hill several neighbors recalled hearing prolonged yelling and screaming emanating from the group one resident
who resided in the apartment above told investigators he overheard a fight in the apartment below that lasted from 10
to 20 minutes another neighbor added that she heard strange noises the sounded of like a
power drill being used police looked into the backgrounds of all those in attendance and Matthew Brennan's
apartment On January 27 starting with the host 36 year old Matthew Brennan was the youngest of four children he left
High School in year 11 working sporadically as a factory hand when he was 19 his family was struck by a
sequence of tragedies starting when his mother died of cancer followed by losing
his brother to a drug overdose and his father dying of a stroke all within a three year time span illicit drugs had
been a problem throughout much of Matthews life he started smoking cannabis at age 12 before moving on to
amphetamines at 15 and heroin at 17 he also experimented with benzodiazepines and hallucinogens including LSD into
magic mushrooms by the time he was 19 years old he was dependent on heroin and began
identifying as a Nazi skinhead Matthew began psychological treatment in 2012 during which a doctor noted he had
psychopathic features contrasted with anxiety of vulnerability and inferiority suggesting his identification with Nazi
beliefs was part of a coping mechanism to deal with negative emotions in August 2014 he was admitted to the Royal
Melbourne Hospital after suffering a methamphetamine induced psychosis Matthew had two sons with a woman who
was also struggling with drug addiction resulting in their children being placed
in the care of Matthew stepmother although he had no history of violent crime he had appeared in court three
times between 1995 and 2002 having been convicted of over 130 offences from those three appearances mostly in
relation to dishonesty charges he was imprisoned for 14 months in 2002 for skipping bail burglary theft handling
stolen goods possession of heroin and possession of a controlled weapon after he's released in 2003
Matthew obtained accommodation from the ministry of housing in the Oceania sea Street apartment complex although he was
able to stay out of legal trouble in the following 13 years he continued his ongoing use of illicit drugs Matthew's
friend 31 year old Konstantinos Bell Yaris was one of three sons his parents divorced when he was young and he was
raised by his father with whom he had a strange relationship contributing to Konstantinos as anger issues by his 16th
birthday after his father threatened to kick him out Konstantinos left home on his own accord
dropping out of high school in year 11 to begin a plumbing apprenticeship that he never finished
throughout his adult life he was employed on and off mainly finding work as a concrete aah
he battled with anger drug and alcohol problems having started using cannabis as a young teenager
Konstantinos had been a regular user of methamphetamine since he was 17 years old and too dealt drugs to support his
habit by his mid-20s he was admitted into psychiatric care twice during a nine year on and off de facto
relationship Konstantinos fathered two children the relationship was marred by violence and
domestic incidents one of which led to Konstantinos being convicted for hindering police using threatening words
in a public place and behaving in an offensive manner he was placed on a bond and required to attend to anger
management counseling in June 2013 police were called to the couple's residence after another incident in
which Konstantinos had smashed to various household items including the fridge in the microwave his partner
attempted to escape with the children the Konstantinos smashed her car windows with a stick fleeing the scene as the
police arrived he returned once the police had left and assaulted his partner again he returned to the house
two months later smashing more property and was subsequently sentenced to three months
in prison and twelve months of community service which he breached and was later
ray arrested for in December 2014 Konstantinos started dating a single mother named Janet not a real name
and the pair lived together in the Oceana C Street apartment complex by 2015 whilst on bail for two counts of
recklessly causing injury committing an indictable offense whilst on bail and breaking his community corrections order
Konstantinos was in trouble with the law again high on crystal meth he broke into
the home of a man who owed him a meager amount of money as part of a drug debt brutally attacking him before stealing
his mother's car Konstantinos was charged with trespass robbery and intentionally causing injury
just weeks before police arrived to make inquiries in relation to Brendon Bernhard's murder
constantinos had invited his ex-partner to his apartment and upon her arrival proceeded to push her down a flight of
stairs the third man in the group last sighted with Brendon Bernard was 46 year old Edward Hill known by his nickname
nibby the oldest of several children to his longtime divorced parents Edward suffered from Perthes disease a
childhood hip disorder that prevented bone growth causing lifelong deformities and osteoarthritis he also suffered a
mild intellectual disability which made him the target of schoolyard bullies causing him to skip school before
leaving altogether in year 10 when Edward was 15 years old he left home working as a gardener in butcher before
dropping out of the workforce entirely at age 18 receiving income from a Disability Support pension and the
Salvation Army a heavy drinker from an early age Edward was known to consume leaders of poor today and who was also a
regular user of cannabis heroin morphine and to methamphetamine he had a long criminal history amassing over 80
convictions from 29 court appearances between 1995 and 2010 mostly for dishonesty driving into drunk and
disorderly offenses but also for more violent crimes in November 2005 he served an 8 month
prison sentence for assault related charges damaging property and aggravated burglary over the years he fathered six
children all of whom resided with their respective mothers interstate by 2015 Edward had been living in the Oceana sea
Street commission complex for ten years it was clear that all three men were of dubious character but they assured
police that brendan had left Matthew Brennan's apartment weeks earlier to escape the ramifications of a botched
drug deal unable to find proof of any such situation having occurred police were convinced the men were lying then
one of Edward Hills neighbors came forward Eric not his real name provided a statement to police in which he
claimed nipi told me it was him who killed Brendan Bernhard he said Brendan had been given $300 to
score drugs but he returned empty-handed with only $40.00 left this prompted Edward to quote crack the sheets
according to Eric Edward bragged about killing Brandon saying it was easy I hit him four times and he just dropped
he said Brendan's body had been left in the bathtub for a week before being dismembered by Matthew Brennan and
Konstantinos belleros Eric's statement was equal parts damning and chilling however police were aware that Edward
Hill's claims were unreliable due to his intellectual disability illicit drug use
and excessive alcohol consumption nevertheless Eric stood by his statement not only willing to testify in court but
also agreeing to serve as a police informant by wearing a concealed wire during further conversations with his
neighbor during these recorded conversations Edward rambled on about Brendon Bernhard
accusing him of trying to sell crushed glass disguised as crystal methamphetamine investigators were
unable to prove whether these accusations were true and to Edwards unfounded stories only served to raise
doubts as to the authenticity of his character and thus the validity of his claims that he was responsible for
Brendan's death police was certain the truth of what happened to Brendon Bernhard remained with those who were in
Matthew Brennan's apartment on the afternoon of January 27 they brought Matthew Konstantinos Belarus and Edward
Hill in for questioning but all three men remained tight-lipped regarding what exactly had happened they then
questioned the final person who was witnessed at the apartment that day Konstantinos his girlfriend Janet to
their surprise Jeannette expressed a willingness to reveal the truth in exchange for a plea deal
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on Monday January 26 2015 Janet and Konstantinos visited Edward Hills apartment having befriended him
during a drug deal the previous month when they arrived Matthew Brennan and de Brendon Bernhard
were already there Edward introduced the Brendan to the couple into the group settled in
spending the day together drinking alcohol and taking drugs Janet sold to Brendan five morphine
tablets for $100 on thick meaning he agreed to pay her back later and to the pair exchanged phone numbers to
facilitate the future transaction that afternoon a neighbor complained about the noise the group was making so they
each splintered off and two returned to their own apartments the next day of Tuesday January 27
Janet phoned Brendon several times seeking payment for the morphine tablets she handed the phone to her boyfriend
with Brendan telling Konstantinos he would get the money off his stepfather after some bartering Konstantinos agreed
to lower the debt to $60 later that day Janet and Konstantinos have visited Edwards apartment finding Matthew
Brennan already inside the force spent the afternoon drinking and doing drugs during which the conversation drifted to
Brandon Bernhard Matthew complained about Brandon living at his place rent-free and expecting
free drugs despite having previously agreed to let him stay at his apartment for nothing
as they continued to wear their graves tempers began to flare in the group and they decided to go to Matthew's
apartment to confront Brandon he wasn't home at the time so the group began rummaging through his belongings hoping
to find cash or drugs that could use this repayment for his debts as they were ransacking through his things
Brendon suddenly appeared catching the group red-handed they immediately began screaming at him demanding money it was
chaotic Brendon was obviously flustered and confused Konstantinos flew into his trademark
rage punching Brendon repeatedly before Matthew and Edouard joined in on the attack
under white and weak from years of drug use Brendon was unable to fight off his three attackers instead he covered his
head with his arms in an attempt to protect himself as they continued to beat him whilst repeatedly yelling you
were warned Konstantinos then placed Brendan in a sleeper hold until he lost consciousness
dropping his limp body on the Landrum floor Janet was ordered to watch over Brendan as the three men entered a
bedroom to discuss their next move closing the door behind them after a few minutes
Brendan regained consciousness and scrambled to his feet realizing his attackers were still in the apartment he
made an attempt to flee but Janet shut and blocked the front door fearing he would go to the police she yelled to the
others alerting them that Brendan was trying to escape Konstantinos Matthew and Edward rushed
out of the bedroom and resumed punching Brandon wrestling him to the floor they pushed the pillow over his face the
Stifel he screamed as he continued to yell I just want to go I just want to go the others ordered him to shut up before
hauling Brendan into the kitchen where Konstantinos pulled out a black cutthroat razor and slashed him across
the face Janet desperately told her boyfriend no weapon but he ignored her the men dragged Brandon kicking and
screaming into the bathroom instructing Janet to close the door behind them she remained in the kitchen drinking alcohol
to calm her nerves whilst listening to the muffled mix of yelling screaming and banging coming from the next room around
45 minutes later the chaos finally stopped and everything went quiet Janet shouted is everything okay is he
breathing to which the men replied come and have a look she opened the bathroom door
finding Brandon lying motionless in the bathtub covered in blood Konstantinos was holding the ends of a
rope pulled tied around Brandon's neck he held it out to Janet saying he have a pull of the dog when she refused he
gaped the Rope a forceful tug causing Brandon's head to hit the side of the tub as he showed a no reaction
Janet asked whether Brandon was still breathing but the three men didn't answer she put her fingers to his neck
but was unable to find a pulse the group reconvened in the kitchen where Matthew
ordered that no one was allowed to leave Konstantinos appeared unfazed by the situation at one point asking Matthew if
he would mind if he and Janet had sex Janet remained elusive to police as to whether she engaged in sexual activity
with her boyfriend cutting to another conversation between the group where they discussed the possibility that
Brandon had drugs hidden on him Edward volunteered to search Brendan's body entering the bathroom alone Jiri
emerged a short time later claiming he hadn't found anything the group were then faced with what to do next they
were unable to move Brandon's body from the apartment as they would no doubt be spotted by their many neighbors in the
days following the murder his body remained in a bathtub as the group debated what to do Konstantinos took to
wearing Brandon's Footwear expressing his amusement that he was walking around in a dead man's shoes
who was the middle of the sweltering Australian summer during which temperatures regularly exceeded a 35
degrees Celsius the hot weather caused the Brendan's body to decompose at a rapid rate when a neighbor complained of
the awful smell emanating from Matthew Brennan's apartment the group started washing the body to combat the odor
after a week had passed Konstantinos and Matthew agreed that the ideal way to dispose of Brendan's body
without detection was to dismember him on Tuesday February three seven days after the murder the three men convened
at Matthew's apartment to begin the process of dismembering Brendan's body upon completion the men sealed Brendan's
body parts in plastic bags a while later Konstantinos retrieved a janitor from their shared apartment and she was
immediately repulsed by the smell of death that lingered on him he told her what they had done boasting that the
cut-up flesh looked quote good enough to weep he made specific reference to one of
Brandon's legs stating it looked good enough to roast and that he would have considered eating it if it hadn't been
sitting there for so long he also bragged that it only took them one hour in 20 minutes to complete the
task calling it a record with the Janet in tow the group of four carried the bags from Matthew's apartment downstairs
and out to a car they had stolen Mathieu sat in the backseat as they drove West spraying a can of Link's deodorant to
mask the smell of the remains they stopped at six different locations along the course of the Maribyrnong River
throwing the bags into the water at each stop to hinder efforts to identify that
victim once his remains were inevitably discovered they discarded the bags containing Brendan's head hands and feet
into a council dumpster near a public playground following Janet's confession police
arrived to the dumpster where Brendan's head hands and feet were discarded but the rubbish had since been collected by
a garbage truck and its contents taken to a dump Janet led police for the six locations
along the Maribyrnong River where the group had discarded the rest of Brendan's remains with a search of the
river recommencing on friday february 27 police released a statement to the media
that read investigators would like to reassure local residents that the police activity today is an extension of the
previous search activity as all the remains have not been found not as the result of the discovery of additional
body parts investigators obtained a search warrant for Matthew Brennan's apartment where they found traces of
Brendan's blood in the lounge room they were also able to recover a vacuum cleaner Matthew had since sold to the
pawn shop cash converters which underwent forensic examination and was found to contain traces of Brendan's
blood in subsequent police interviews Matthew Brennan Konstantinos Bell yaris and Edward Hill all confessed to killing
and dismembering Brendan Burnett before disposing of his body they admitted that
Konstantinos and Matthew had used the knife and a hacksaw to cut up Brendan's body while edward looked on all three
men were charged with murder to which they pleaded not guilty claiming their motive was never to kill
Brendan only to hurt him as punishment for owing them money the trio were denied bail enter the trial was ordered
to begin the following year as the complex forensic nature of the case meant police needed extra time to
prepare their brief of evidence they also needed more time to search for Brendan's missing remains almost a month
later on Sunday March 22 a member of the public was walking near the Boathouse restaurant where Brett
severed forearm was found 45 days earlier when they spotted some bones the discovery drew intense media attention
with several reports boldly insinuating that the bones belonged to the murdered 32 year old
however forensic testing later confirmed the bones were not human despite the extensive efforts by police no further
remains belonging to Brandon Bernhard were located on July 21 a committal hearing determined there was sufficient
evidence for the case to go to trial at the Supreme Court lost awaiting trial for murder
Konstantinos Belarus faced the court for his earlier pending charges which included assault recklessly causing
injury committing an indictable offense whilst on bail and breaking his community corrections order he was
convicted on all counts and sentenced to nine months imprisonment Brendan Bernhard's murder trial began
the following year on Monday May 23 2016 overseen by presiding judge Justice John
Beale in his opening address chief Crown prosecutor Gavin Silbert told the court
you are about to embark on another one of the increasing number of murder cases arising from the world of drugs and in
particular the drug is following the prosecution's opening the defense counsel immediately put in an
application to discharge the jury reasoning silber's comments were quote irrelevant factually incorrect and
highly prejudicial to the accused the prevalence of ice also known as crystal methamphetamine had risen dramatically
amongst the drug users in Victoria over the previous years causing a sharp increase in violent crimes including
homicides the defense argued the prosecution's comments skewed the trial to represent the wider societal problems
arising from the ice epidemic and that a quote invites the jury to associate this
offense with the topical social evil in an inappropriate way justice bill permitted the trial to continue the
reminded the jury to focus on Brandon's murder and not the Associated drug use or its wider social impacts the defense
of all three of the accused invited the jury to convict their clients on the lesser charge of manslaughter explaining
their motive was the cause serious injury not death Konstantinos attorney argued that his clients intent was to
quote merely give the men a flogging although conceding that he hadn't been disappointed by the result the defense
also insisted that their clients having accepted responsibility for Brendan's death was evidence of their remorse for
their actions the prosecution's assertions that the dismemberment was an aggravating factor of the murder was
disputed by the defense they referenced other murder cases where the victim's body was mutilated immediately following
the killing unlike Brendan's dismemberment which occurred a week after he had died they
maintained that the desecration of Brendan's body was the result of a drug-induced panic not aimed to further
humiliate him or seek vengeance judge Beal wasn't convinced stating his opinion that the defendants motivation
behind dismembering Brendan's body was a calculated decision to evade punishment
the prosecution's case relied heavily on the witness testimony provided by Constantino sirs former girlfriend Janet
the couple had since separated with Konstantinos resuming his relationship with the mother of his children whom he
had abused on multiple occasions the defense worked to discredit Janet by drawing attention to her history of drug
and alcohol abuse as well as to the lack of confidence she had in her own testimony as she had admitted to
consuming alcohol and using ice immediately prior to and during Brandon's attack Janet was made out to
be an unreliable witness Matthew Brennan's attorney told the jury she is the only witness to what happened
in that living room you appreciate by now this is a different world you're going into everyone in that room was
drugged affected or drunk Janet said she couldn't go out in public unless she'd had something to drink you'll be
focusing very carefully on her evidence how reliable is it however upon cross-examination Janet's a version of
events were exactly as she had described for during her initial confession to police she admitted to using drugs that
day saying we all had our poison but her story remained the same when reliving the first punch that
initiated the ferocious attack on Brandon she explained there was like a big ball of arms and two legs it was a
pretty big mess there were three people that was yelling the dog was barking and
biting I was saying stop Janet Breck downing T says she told the jury how Brendan had cried throughout
his ordeal begging his attackers to stop when the accused to realize that Brendan
had died Janet explained it's lucky they weren't having fun anymore because he wasn't alive anymore she admitted to
closing the front door of the apartment on Brendan when he made an effort to escape as she didn't want him to alert
police and to risk Konstantinos going back to jail a large amount of Janet's credibility centred
around at the duration of the fire that led to Brendan's death she was certain the assault lasted for a couple of hours
beginning with a 15-minute verbal argument followed by a 15-minute physical fight in the lounge room which
then rendered Brendan unconscious for another 15 minutes when Brendan came to and tried to escape
another 10-minute fight ensued and his final ordeal in the bathroom lasted up to 45 minutes however this conflicted
with the testimony provided by the neighbor who lived in the apartment above Matthew Brennan who told the court
that the fight he overheard only lasted 10 to 20 minutes the defense argued that Janet's
incorrect timings were evidence of her inability to factually recall Kate details of the event but Janet stood by
her testimony stating everything was a blur around at that time in my life I remember clearly everything that
happened but the time frames are a bit fuzzy as Janet hadn't witnessed to the events that unfolded in the bathroom it
was unclear exactly what had occurred within Konstantinos spell yaris was accused of being solely responsible for
this most savage portion of the attack he admitted the events that transpired were beyond of the scope of what he and
his co-accused had agreed to enter that when he had choked Brendan with the robe
he had done so without Matthew Brennan or Edward Hills explicit approval furthermore Matthews legal counsel
extensively highlighted the fact that despite the bathroom belonging to their client there was no forensic evidence to
place him at the scene of the murder there was also no evidence to indicate who was present during each portion of
the attack or who administered the fatal injury that ended Brendan's life the extensive damage caused the Brendan's
recovered remains failed to provide an answer with the exact cause of his death remaining a mystery in an effort to
explain the presence of Brendan's blood in Matthew's apartment and a vacuum cleaner the defense counsel claimed
Brendan had gotten into a number of fights leading up to his death and the spatter had likely resulted from one of
these incidents after an 18 day trial followed by seven days of deliberations the jury reached
its final verdict on Friday June 10 2016 4 the murder of Brendan Bernhard Konstantinos Belarus Matthew Brennan and
Edward Hill were unanimously found guilty when the verdict was announced Brendan's family let out cries of her
life and embraced one another in tears as the jury left the court Konstantinos and Matthew were Saint
smiling and joking with one another during the subsequent sentencing hearing victim impact statements were read out
to the court an emotional reading from Brandon's father Ronald Whitmore expressed how disgusted and enraged he
felt over his son's murder and the way he was treated after his death he described the murder as a senseless
small-minded and cowardly act adding that the lack of humanity shown by his son's killers would stay with him
forever despite the best efforts by police Bernhard's head hands fate and a significant portion of his body were
never recovered Ronald demanded his son's killers reveal the whereabouts of his remains quote where's the rest of my
son's body he was a human being he was my son he died for what Ronald described the turmoil he felt having to opt for
cremation instead of burial due to how little of Brendan's body was found whilst his family had a long-feared that
would one day lose Brandon to a drug overdose Ronald remarked that what happened
instead was far worse stating the manner of which he died makes me sick to my stomach
I would like Brandon to be remembered as the boy he was and not the man he could
have been I loved him and I always will victim impact statements were also read on behalf of Brendan siblings giving the
otherwise private family the opportunity to publicly express their grief Brendan's brother described how his
world stopped upon identifying Brendan's forearm as though he was outside his body watching a play he also expressed
sadness that Brendan's body was disposed of like garbage quote he was my flesh and blood he was my
brother he died for $60 which I found out was probably actually paid it was discovered that the $60 debt that led to
Brendan's murder had in fact been paid On January 27 2015 after visiting his stepfather in the city to borrow the
money Brendan had trusted the $60 payment to his roommate Matthew Brennan requesting he passed the
cash on to Janet to repay his debt instead of giving the money to Janet Matthew decided to pocket it for himself
he kept his theft a secret from the others even when Brendan's alleged failure to repay the debt sparked the
group's confrontation Brandon was genuinely blindsided by the attack confused as to why the group were
demanding money from him which he had already paid at the sentencing hearing Justice John bill rejected the defense's
argument that the dismemberment of Brendan's body occurred too long after the killing to be treated as a
circumstance of aggravation stating the three of you disposed of the body parts and I regard that as a further
aggravating circumstance justice bill declared the defense teams effort to persuade the jury to convict the trio of
manslaughter as a pragmatic tactical decision to maximize their chances of being found to not guilty of murder he
did not believe had flowed from any semblance of remorse from the defendants and didn't accept any statements relied
on by the defense that attempted to indicate otherwise just as bill told the convicted men the
impact of your offending on mr. Bernhard's family is profound and enduring the anguish they feel has
impacted on their physical and mental health what you did to mr. Barnard before and after his death
understandably dominates their thoughts they continue to be tormented by the fact that parts of mr. Bernard have not
been recovered he concluded given the lack of evidence as to what happened in the bathroom where mr. Bernard was
killed I cannot be satisfied that there was an agreement to kill nonetheless your moral culpability is still high
this was a protracted brutal and cowardly assault by the three of you the rehabilitation prospects for
Konstantinos Belarus Mathieu Brennan and Edward Hill were respectively regarded as poor fair and uncertain during the
trial Edward Hill had been assessed by a neuropsychologist who concluded his IQ was a mere 68
placing him in the bottom 2.2 percent of the population the impairment was present throughout his brain development
and further compromised by substance abuse during his adolescence impacting his general functioning behavior
reasoning and problem-solving skills as well as his decision-making and judgment
it was determined that people with his mild intellectual disability generally require a supportive environment and
significant training to function in their lives effectively notably the neuropsychologists report
concluded that Edward Hill was more likely to be vulnerable to influencers within his immediate environment based
on the findings of this report justice bill agreed to take the accused intellectual disability into account
upon determining his sentence on Friday February 3 2017 two years to the day after they dumped a Brendon Bernhard's
remains in the Maribyrnong River justice bills sentenced his three killers to prison
Konstantinos bail Yaris was handed a 24 year prison term with an on parole period of 19 years
Matthew Brennan was given 22 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 17 years and Edward Hill 20 years
imprisonment with a non-parole period of 15 years Konstantinos received the harshest
punishment due to his history of violent crimes coupled with the attitude and disrespect
he showed Brendan during and after his death Edward Hills sentence was the lightest
due to his intellectual disability and the fact that he had not participated in the dismemberment of Brendan's body even
the three men had already been incarcerated for a period of six hundred and ninety days this time served was
deducted from Matthew Brennan and Edward Hill sentences Konstantinos pal yarisis
sentence however was only reduced by 367 days all three men appealed their sentences
on the grounds there was insufficient evidence to warrant the conviction and that the verdict was unreasonable they
reiterated their issues with the prosecution's opening address a trial in which they compared the case that the
broader rice epidemic plaguing society and to the judges decision not to dismiss the jury immediately following
the remarks they maintained they had never intended to kill Brendan Bernhard and to the money was the motivating
factor of the assault appeal judge Christopher Maxwell called the attack of vicious joint assault and to before
rejecting all three appeals asked the convicted men if you were concerned about the money why not let the poor
bloke go [Music] you

Case 113: Brendan Bernard

At around midday on Thursday, February 5 2015, two walkers were strolling along the eastern banks of the Maribyrnong River in Moonee Ponds, a suburb 6 kilometres out of Melbourne...

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research and writing – Rick Best Editing – Milly Raso and Elsha McGill Production, scoring – Mike Migas and Andrew Joslyn

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Brief Summary

Brendan Bernhard was murdered and dismembered by three men over a drug debt, leading to a complex investigation and trial.

Key points

Best Fiends: The Game Everyone's Playing. Join 90 million players in solving puzzles and collecting characters!
Grim Discovery in the Maribyrnong River. A severed human limb is found, sparking a full-scale police investigation.
Identifying the Victim. Police use a distinctive tattoo to identify the remains of Brendan Bernhard.
Brendan's Last Days. Brendan was last seen alive on January 27, 2015, before a violent confrontation.
The Dismemberment. Seven days after the murder, the group decided to dismember Brendan's body.
Guilty Verdict for Brendan's Killers. The jury found Konstantinos, Matthew, and Edward guilty of murder after deliberations.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

The victim had been murdered and dismembered elsewhere...

Police confirming the nature of the crime.

9:35WatchJun 5, 2019

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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