Detectives say a man arrested over the death of a woman in north Queensland had been in a relationship with the victim for several months.
Key points:
- Police say there were no domestic violence orders in place between the pair
- Autopsy results are set to be released tomorrow
- Authorities say the man was arrested at a service station in Proserpine
Mother of four Tania Trickey, 44, was killed at Bluewater, near Townsville, some time on Saturday morning.
A group of teenagers riding quad bikes discovered the body on a sandy track in bushland that afternoon.
Police arrested a 38-year-old Deeragun man at a service station in Proserpine around 8:30pm on Sunday after his car was spotted by patrolling officers.
“Police were basically able to take him by surprise,” Detective Inspector Jason Shepherd said.
Police have seized the man’s vehicle, which will be subject to forensic examination.
“We hope to obviously find evidence that will link our person of interest and the vehicle to the crime scene [at Bluewater],” Detective Inspector Shepherd said.
Pair allegedly drove to remote area together
Police said the man and Ms Trickey had been in a relationship for a few months.
The pair allegedly drove to the remote area at Bluewater together on Saturday where the woman was later found dead.
Detective Inspector Shepherd said they were able to identify the man after his vehicle was captured on dash-cam footage near the scene.
“If he’s charged, it would be linked to what we call a domestic violence offence,” he said.
‘But at this stage there was no current domestic and family violence orders between the person of interest and the victim and police had never attended any domestic and family violence incidents between the victim and the person of interest,’ he said.
Police would not confirm how Ms Trickey died but said an autopsy would be carried out on Tuesday.
Detective Inspector Shepherd said both she and the person of interest were known to police.
The man remains in custody in Mackay, where he will be questioned by detectives.
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