Brit, 34, found stabbed to death and weighed down with stones in an Australian river in 2004 'was murdered by his wife's jealous lover' cops claim as they arrest him 20 years later in cold case breakthrough
- Jason Palmer, 34, was brutally stabbed to death and dumped in a river in 2004
A man has finally been charged with the murder of a Brit whose mutilated body was pulled out of a river in Australia a whopping 20 years ago.
Jason Palmer, who was aged 34 at the time of his death, was brutally stabbed in the western Sydney suburb of Lakemba before his bleeding corpse was dumped in a nearby river and weighed down with rocks.
He was reported missing by wife Renny, with whom he had settled Down Under, in early February 2004 and his body was fished out of the river some three weeks later.
Coroners quickly established he had died from his stab wounds before being thrown into the water, but police had no leads and were unable to pin down the killer.
Some 18 years later the case was reopened as authorities uncovered new information - and officers on Monday arrested 52-year-old Queensland man Gofal Baziad and charged him with Palmer's murder after two painstaking years of investigation.
Detectives believe that Baziad had been seeing Palmer's wife and subsequently murdered the unsuspecting Brit in a jealous fit of rage.
Jason Palmer's (pictured) stabbed body was found weighed down with rocks in a river on February 29, 2004, three weeks after he was reported missing
Gofal Baziad (pictured in green top) has been charged over the brutal cold-case murder of a father that baffled police for more than two decades
Palmer's body had been wrapped in a sleeping bag weighed down by several rocks.
Investigators believe he was tossed from atop a bridge over the Nepean river in Sydney.
Cops were at a loss as to who could've carried out the heinous crime and referred the incident to the unsolved murder department in New South Wales.
The incredible breakthrough in the case, which baffled Sydney police for two decades, came after investigators painstakingly reviewed a torrent of communications and re-interviewed witnesses.
They found that Baziad and Renny had been seeing each other prior to Palmer's death, and subsequently moved to Indonesia shortly after the Brit's body was discovered.
They resided in Indonesia for years before making a return to Queensland some time later, though Baziad's social media pages list him as living in the Indonesian capital Jakarta.
The pair eventually broke off their relationship, investigators said.
But Detective Superintendent Daniel Doherty, who runs the New South Wales Police homicide team, told Australia's 9News that they had uncovered enough evidence to suggest Baziad lashed out and murdered Palmer in a crime of passion.
'We will allege in court that he was very jealous of her and very possessive and obsessed with her and to the point we believe, and we will show the facts, this had led him to commit what we will say was a very violent crime.'
Palmer's body had been wrapped in a sleeping bag weighed down by several rocks. Investigators believe he was tossed from atop a bridge over the Nepean river in Sydney
Detective Superintendent Doherty continued: 'Mr Palmer had been stabbed numerous times.
'We believe it was a pure crime of passion... however it's a horrendous murder.'
He said that it was only the persistence and focus of detectives that allowed them to track down the alleged killer.
'It's been 20 years since Mr Palmer, who was originally from the UK, is alleged to have been murdered,' he said.
'He was a husband and father, and police had always remained hopeful of an arrest.
'This arrest once again demonstrates that investigators will not rest until there's a resolution for unsolved matters, and to provide answers to families.'
Detectives believe there are members of the public that know more details about the case and have urged them to come forward.