IN BRIEF
- Police found his licence inside a car, and the clothing on the body has led officers to believe it is Ingram.
- Police offered a $250,000 award in March for information that could lead to his capture.
A body, believed to belong to a suspect in a triple homicide case, has been discovered in a state of advanced decomposition, several months after the alleged incident.
The suspect, Julian Ingram, aged 37, was charged with the murders of his ex-girlfriend Sophie Quinn, who was pregnant, her aunt Nerida Quinn, and another individual in Lake Cargelligo, located in western New South Wales, on January 22.
Since the day of the alleged crimes, Ingram had not been seen, with his last known whereabouts being when he drove away from the scene in a white utility vehicle.
On Monday, New South Wales Police announced the discovery of a 37-year-old man’s body near a white Ford Ranger and a firearm at Roundhill Nature Reserve, roughly 100 kilometers northeast of Lake Cargelligo.
Although formal identification is pending, the registration number of the vehicle aligns with the one used during the alleged shootings.
Authorities also found Ingram’s driver’s license inside the vehicle, and the attire on the body supports the belief that it is indeed him.
“It’s a relief for those involved in the investigation, and probably a bigger relief for the people of Lake Cargelligo and the Quinn family,” Western Region commander Andrew Holland told reporters.
“It brings closure to this investigation, it brings closure to the people of Lake Cargelligo and gives some solace to the town, so they can relax.”
Ingram was believed to have committed the murders just hours after reporting for bail at a local police station.
Quinn, 25, and her friend John Harris, 32, were killed when bullets were fired into a dark hatchback on Lake Cargelligo’s Bokhara St about 4.20pm.
Soon after, her 50-year-old aunt was shot dead at a home on Walker St, a two-minute drive away.
Kaleb Macqueen, 19, was also shot at the home but survived with serious injuries.
The shootings shocked the region, with locals urged to exercise extreme caution as police launched their manhunt.
For weeks, officers scoured the nearby bushland looking for signs of Ingram, eventually expanding their search to the remote outpost of Mount Hope, a former mining town about 90km northwest of Lake Cargelligo.
As leads dried up, police offered a $250,000 award in March for information that could lead to his capture.
Investigators believed Ingram was alive for at least a week after his disappearance.
But by the time he was found on Monday, it seemed he had died long ago.
“Police have … located a male body in a very decomposed state,” Holland said.
“The body appears to have been there for some time.”
Officers will continue investigations into how the death occurred and the state of decomposition will be determined by a coroner.
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