Inquest into the dismemberment murder of woman continues. Source: 9 Today
WARNING: Graphic
Chef Marcus Volke bought a cleaver knife, bleach, gloves, garbage bags, a scrubbing brush and a laundry tub and dismembered the body of his wife Mayang Prasetyo after a night of arguing.
An inquest into the murder suicide heard the couple's marriage was a "business transaction" and took place at a time when Volke was heavily in debt.
The court heard the couple met in Victoria where Volke was working as an escort to pay his credit card debts.
The couple married in 2013 and travelled together before deciding to settle in Brisbane in September 2014.
Prasetyo, a transgender sex worker, used her earnings to pay Volke's debts in exchange for his help in gaining a Visa for her to stay in Australia.
But the court heard their relationship was volatile and there was evidence Prasetyo had threatened to expose Volke to his family should he decide to leave her.
In Brisbane, the pair toured a complex of units on Commercial Rd, Teneriffe, and moved into a ground floor apartment in mid September 2014.
Volke was with a client on the afternoon of October 2, 2014, when Prasetyo called.
"Volke referred to Prasetyo as his flatmate at that time and the client heard Prasetyo screaming at Volke on the other end of the line," counsel assisting the coroner, Emily Cooper said.
"In his interview with police, the client described the conversation as stilted and clinical at Volke's end and as soon as Volke ended the phone call he became apparently a different person and was no longer talking freely, openly or honestly.
"After the call Volke said to his client, 'I've got to go back, my flatmate wants me to help clean (up after) the dogs'. He then went to head home."
The finishing touches were still being applied to Double One 3 apartments in October, 2014. Photo/News Corp Australia
Late that night, neighbours woke to the sounds of arguing from Volke and Prasetyo's apartment.
"(It) lasted about 30 to 40 minutes and started to escalate to a point where the person later identified to be Ms Prasetyo was noted to be screaming," Cooper told the court.
"The male person, later identified to be Volke, was seen to be sitting on the couch inside the unit just staring straight ahead, not reacting at all to the screaming.
"Prasetyo was heard to say things like 'f**k you', and was calling Volke stupid. Prasetyo was also saying things like 'I can't believe you'.
"That neighbour then awoke again at about 1.30am, so we're now onto the 3rd of October, 2014, and could hear Volke and Prasetyo arguing again."
It was the last time Prasetyo was known to be alive and police believe she was murdered some time that morning.
The court heard later that morning, a building manager, Hughes, noticed a strange smell coming from Volke and Prasetyo's apartment.
It became bad enough that air freshener was used in the hallway outside.
At 6pm, Volke left the apartment and went to Woolworths at Newstead, where he bought items including gloves, bleach, a scrubbing brush, garbage bags, wipes and a laundry soak tub.
From there, he caught a taxi to the Royal Brisbane Hospital, telling the taxi driver he had cut his hand quite badly while chopping onions.
He had a different story for the hospital staff, explaining that he had an argument with his girlfriend and cut his hand attempting to take a knife out of her hand.
The following day, October 4, he ran into Hughes, the building manager, telling her a similar story, adding that he needed to have surgery.
At 12.15pm he went shopping again, this time buying a cleaver knife from a Big W store.
Hughes had noticed the smell getting worse, to the point where it smelled as though something was burning, and at 3.30pm, knocked on his door.
"In relation to the burning smell, Volke said 'I just went out and left my stock pot on and it must have burnt dry'," Cooper told the court.
Marcus Volke and Mayang Prasetyo. Photo/Facebook
Later, Volke was forced to call an electrician after his stock pot - later found to contain Prasetyo's dismembered feet - boiled over, shorted the oven and cut power to the apartment.
Volke told the electrician, Bradley Coyne, "you'll have to excuse the smell", and that he'd been cooking pig's broth.
"In relation to his hand, Volke said words to the effect 'my psycho ex-girlfriend tried to attack me with a knife, which I grabbed, and cut my hand'," Cooper said.
"Coyne thought this was odd, and in his statement described the smell as pungent and putrid, a bit like dog food."
The court heard the electrician called the building manager, who arrived at Volke and Prasetyo's apartment to find bleach and blood on the carpet.
She called police, telling them she had not seen Prasetyo in some days.
Cooper told the court that, in her submission, the actions of police who arrived on scene had been entirely appropriate in circumstances where they had limited information.
The court heard Volke had a history of anxiety and depression and had attempted suicide in the past, but that information had not been available to officers who arrived at the Teneriffe apartment building.
Cooper also found that dog squad officers and detectives who discovered Volke's body in a bin nearby, soon after he fled the apartment, acted appropriately.
An autopsy found Volke had self inflicted injuries to his wrists and throat.
"I don't really think that there's any way that a similar death in similar circumstances could really be prevented," Cooper told the inquest.
She said the subsequent police investigation into Mr Volke's death had been "appropriate and thorough".
Coroner Terry Ryan will deliver his findings on Friday.
Earlier
The death of a Brisbane chef who took his own life after killing and cooking his Indonesian partner was unavoidable, an inquest has heard.
During closing submissions in the Brisbane Coroners Court today, counsel assisting the coroner, Emily Cooper, said the evidence was clear Marcus Volke killed transgender escort Mayang Prasetyo before slashing his own throat in an industrial bin while evading police.
She said police were called to the unit Volke shared with Prasetyo, 27, at Teneriffe on the night of October 4, 2014 after receiving reports of a foul smell.
Volke asked officers to wait outside so he could put the dogs away, and then fled the unit through another door or window.
When police entered the unit they found some of Prasetyo's remains in a black garbage bag left in the couple's washing machine, while her feet were protruding from a stock pot on the kitchen floor, next to a pool of blood.
Police and the dog squad searched the surrounding streets and found Volke in an industrial bin a short time later.
Marcus Volke, 27, had a lot to hide. Photo/Facebook
The court heard at least one of the officers drew his firearm, and Volke took his own life.
Senior Sergeant Sean McKay told the court today he arrived as police were tipping the bin over to retrieve Volke.
He said officers carried out CPR but "it was pretty apparent that he was deceased and it wasn't going to help".
Cooper said the coroner would be satisfied Volke's death was unavoidable and the actions of attending police were "authorised, justified and supported" by law.
"It's clear that there was no misconduct displayed by any of the officers involved," she said.
"There was nothing further that they could have done at the time."
Coroner Terry Ryan will hand down his findings on Friday.
