Three men have been found guilty of the murder of Brendan Bernard, whose severed body parts were found in the Maribyrnong River last year.
Con Spaliaras, Edward Lionel Hill and Mr Bernard’s housemate, Matthew David Brennan, were convicted of murder in the Supreme Court last week.
All three had pleaded not guilty, despite admitting they threw hacked-up pieces of Mr Bernard’s body into the river, arguing that they did not intend him to die.
Mr Bernard, 32, met his end during what was described as a “chaotic” night at a North Melbourne unit in late January last year, when everyone present was drunk or affected by drugs, including ice.
The trial jury heard that Mr Bernard was confronted over an unpaid $60 drug debt from the previous day.
The key prosecution witness, a woman who can be identified only as “KJ”, told the court the three men bashed Mr Bernard before Spaliaras put him into a “sleeper hold” until he lost consciousness.
Mr Bernard’s body was left in a bathtub for about a week before he was dismembered and his body parts dumped in the river.
They surfaced in February and March of 2015 and were identified by a distinctive tattoo on a forearm.
The trio will front a plea hearing at a later date.
Bianca Hall / The Age
READ: Three charged with murder
