Three teens charged with the murder of a man one of them allegedly messaged on Grindr
The body of Peter Keeley, 56, was found in bushland in New South Wales, Australia
By Steve Brown
Words: Steve Brown
Three teenagers have been charged with the murder of a man one of them allegedly messaged on Grindr.
The body of Canberra man Peter Keeley, 56, was found in bushland near Broulee, New South Wales, on February 2.
On Thursday (February 13), three friends, all 17, were arrested in the same area and have been charged with murder, the Guardian reported.
A post mortem examination was inconclusive but found Keeley suffered head and facial injuries. According to Australia’s Nine News, his arms and legs were tied with duct tape.
Mobile phones, laptops and other electronic equipment was seized by detectives during a search of all three of the homes.
NSW police detective superintendent Danny Doherty said Keeley had messaged on of the charged teenagers through the gay hook-up app.
He told reporters in Sydney: “One of the lines of inquiry is the method of communication used by the victim.
“That was investigated and a number of dating apps were used and one of those was Grindr.”
Doherty went on to say police are currently investigating motives for the alleged killing, and will decide whether it was motivated by homophobia.
“There’s a number of motives that I can’t talk about and can’t elaborate on,” Doherty continued.
“We have to look at other considerations, such as whether there was anything drug-related, whether it was robbery-related, or whether it was a hate crime.
“It’s unclear at this stage.”