Transgender Woman Murdered & ‘Cooked’ by Boyfriend in Brisbane
Police have started looking for the relatives of Mayang Prasetyo, who was allegedly killed by chef Marcus Volke, after she had returned to her Brisbane apartment. According to detectives, the murder took place last week in Commercial Road, Teneriffe. Police were called after neighbours had complained about a foul smell during the weekend. Volke apparently tried to run away through a rear glass door when the police arrived. He jumped over a balcony and was believed to have committed suicide. His body was discovered in an industrial bin, ABC News reported. Prasetyo's remains were found when officers got back to the apartment.
According to unconfirmed reports, the 27-year-old chef was cooking a part of his girlfriend's body when officers arrived. Some parts of Prasetyo's body were boiling on the stove, according to some reports, which the police refused to confirm. Prasetyo apparently met Volke while they worked for international cruise ships as chefs. Prasetyo, an Indonesian by birth, got engaged with Volke in August 2013. Prasetyo apparently worked as a cabaret dancer for a Melbourne company, Le Femme Garcon, for its "Gender Illusion Cabaret Show," The Brisbane Times reported.
Investigators have started checking footages recorded by security cameras near the apartment. According to ABC journalist Dean Bilton, the last few days have been strange. Bilton, who moved to an apartment near Prasetyo's last weekend, said that the entire incident was "pretty unsettling." "Everyone is obviously a bit put off about the whole thing," Bilton said, "It's pretty unsettling stuff going on in close proximity. People kind of want to know what's going on and kind of not."
Volke's mother Dorothy said on Monday that she had not met Prasetyo. She also said that she was not aware that her son was dating a transgender woman. She said that she did not have a proper idea about what her son used to do or which company he had worked for. "I don't know, he jumped around," Dorothy said, "I'm not sure what he was doing - last we knew he was working on boats." According to one of the neighbours, the couple looked "quite friendly."
Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au