Man arrested over alleged murder of rich drinking buddy

The 'Man Club' shared a love of booze, football and money - until something went horribly wrong. Photo / Nicola Topping

Craig Puddy and Cameron Mansell were business partners and drinking mates, but something - it's not clear what - went horribly wrong. Mr Puddy went missing three weeks ago, and is presumed murdered.

Mansell, the main suspect, was arrested yesterday in a rainforest following a manhunt characterised by Keystone Cops-style blunders.

Both Mr Puddy, a multi-millionaire, and Mansell, a former financial planner, were members of the "Man Club" - a group of Perth friends who shared a love of football, booze and money. Mr Puddy, 45, was about to move to Sydney, where he had spent A$2.85m on a waterfront mansion, complete with private jetty for his 42ft Mustang yacht.

On 3 May, however, he disappeared from his luxury Perth home. A large pool of blood, identified as his, was discovered in the kitchen. His wallet turned up in a waste bin near a Perth bar in which he owns a stake.

Three days after Mr Puddy vanished, Mansell's burnt-out Jeep Cherokee was found in a pine plantation about 20 miles north of Perth.

Mansell, too, was declared missing n until police tracked him down the next day, holed up in the Perth Holiday Inn. After questioning him for 15 hours, they released him without charge.

Officers continued to tail him, but a week later he gave them the slip - entering a building by one door and leaving by another, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. He then boarded a flight for Adelaide, using a false name. He had also shaved his head to disguise his appearance.

By a bizarre coincidence, two detectives involved in the investigation - declared a murder inquiry after Mansell, 38, became a fugitive - were on that same flight. T

hey were heading to Adelaide, Mansell's home town, to dig into his past. The pair only spotted him as he was getting into a taxi at Adelaide airport.

After visiting his mother, and reportedly trying to see his young son, who lives with his ex-partner, Mansell took off again. He was spotted in Brisbane, the Queensland capital, then in Townsville, further north.

Yesterday, after nearly two weeks on the run, his luck ran out. Police caught up with him near Paluma, a small village north of Townsville. He was camping out in dense bush land.

While detectives say they have enough evidence to charge him with murder, they have refused to divulge any hint of a possible motive.

So it remains unclear whether the alleged killing is linked to Mansell and Mr Puddy's business dealings, or their "Man Club" social life - or even a transgression of some obscure code of friendship.

Mr Puddy, whose body has yet to be found, was director of a machinery-importing business, Merlo Group Australia. He also owned 30 per cent of Basement on Broadway, a central Perth bar popular with footballers.

A former Australian Football League (AFL) player, Mansell helped to establish the bar in 2007, and later became its manager - a position from which he was sacked on the day he was questioned by police.

Barred from working as a securities dealer after breaking corporations law, he was acquitted last December of supplying drugs. He had been charged with sending 330 grams of cocaine and 998 grams of ecstasy in the post to another man, who died before the trial.

Martyn Rogers, a friend of Mr Puddy's, and the main stakeholder in the bar, described him as "a great guy. He was a friend to many, many people: easy-going, always helpful, always there to listen."

Mr Puddy's family found the blood in his home after failing to reach him by phone. That very day a removal company had been booked to transport his belongings to Sydney, where he planned to set up another business. His girlfriend was moving with him.

The pair were planning to renovate their new house. Claudio Marcolongo, the Sydney estate agent who organised the sale, told The Sydney Morning Herald that Mr Puddy was "a gentleman to deal with".

- THE INDEPENDENT