Tyron Beauchamp's body was found badly beaten and smouldering in bushland in Taree. Photo / via Facebook
Tyron Beauchamp's body was found badly beaten and smouldering in bushland in Taree. Photo / via Facebook
Tyron Beauchamp's badly beaten and burnt body was discovered in bushland on December 27.
Now police have revealed further details of the 41-year-old's gruesome murder, alleging his hands were cut off and his teeth removed and burned in an attempt to disguise his body.
Scores of police raided homes across Taree in New South Wales on Wednesday morning, dramatically arresting five men — aged 19, 22, 23, 24 and 42 — in relation to the case.
Another man is arrested still in his underwear. Photo / Supplied
Police squads arrived early at the homes, with at least 10 officers turning up at one door with a dog loudly barking.
Beauchamp's remains were found by rural firefighters in bushland at Upper Landsdowne, north of Taree, in the early hours of December 27.
The crew had been putting out a small blaze on Yarratt Road about 6.10am.
A post-mortem examination revealed Beauchamp had been seriously assaulted before his body was taken to the forest and set on fire.
Detective Superintendent Scott Cook said police expected to charge two of the men arrested with Beauchamp's murder, two with being accessories after the fact to murder, and one with concealing a serious crime.
A woman yells at police as they arrest a man at a Taree home. Photo / Supplied
Police believe Beauchamp was at a social gathering with three other men on Christmas Day when an argument broke out over some property.
They allege he was beaten by two men — one with a steel bar — which resulted in severe head injuries and ultimately death.
Det Supt Cook said Beauchamp's hands were allegedly severed and his teeth removed in an attempt to disguise his body.
"It will be alleged that the bushfire was set to cover up the body (and) two men were allegedly involved in the assault, the others were allegedly involved in the disposal," he told reporters.
Beauchamp had moved to the Taree area mid-2018.
Police appealed for information from the public after his remains were found, saying Mr Beauchamp was a reclusive character with few associates in the area.
Even months after his death vicious trolls still target Beauchamp's Facebook page, several saying he deserved what was coming.
Now his girlfriend Jasmine Maher, who he was reportedly planning to visit before his death, has lashed out at the trolls, calling for them to leave him alone.
Earlier this year news.com.au revealed that just days before Beauchamp was killed he received a death threat on his Facebook page.
"I'm going to break you and bury you where nobody will ever find your remains (you're) a dog," a mostly anonymous profile wrote on December 23.
The threat also contained an allegation that Beauchamp was a criminal. Beauchamp responded a day later.
"How bout U show ya face n I'll come meet U," he responded.
A screenshot of the original threat. Photo / Facebook
At the time a police source said detectives were trying to track down the person who made the threat but the profile only listed the name "Jim Smith" and the location of Brisbane.
Aside from the single threatening comment in January, the Facebook profile had no other signs of public activity.
But since then the threat has been removed — with only Beauchamp's reply remaining and dozens of other new comments from people.
While some appear to be trolls, others claim to have known Beauchamp.
Some have also defended him.
Maher said she had not been on the page recently but in one thread 10 weeks ago she responded to the trolls personally.
On Wednesday she told news.com.au she heard from Beaucamp, who was planning to visit her in Queensland, before Christmas and after that nothing.
She said because he had been in jail she did not think much of it because he was not released until Boxing Day and his conditions were he had to stay in Taree.
"Facebook needs to cut these people off," she said.
"He's dead, leave him alone. He was trying to get money to come up and see me.
"Why pick on someone whose dead? Back off."
Maher said she was going to try get Facebook to deactivate his profile.
A comment posted to his page on Wednesday hit back at trolls.
"What would you say if it were one of your family members who, just say, once struggled drug addiction but tried to better their life then got murdered — in this case by getting bashed and set a light? Would you say they deserved it or would you want justice? Why so much hatred?"
