Reports of a chainsaw missing from murdered couple’s farm

FIJI – Fiji police have discovered the remains of another decomposed body at the Natadola beach yesterday.

Chief of Intelligence and Investigations ACP Luke Navela said the discovery was made by a man who came across the remains while he was walking along the beach.

The decomposed parts were wrapped in a similar manner to the remains found last week, and a severed head this week, at the same location.

ACP Navela said the latest remains are at the Lautoka Hospital for forensic testing.

The previously discovered remains have been confirmed belonging to a Russian couple who had been reported missing in mid-June.

The police were treating that case as murder after confirming the remain belonged to Yuri Shipulin and his wife Natalia.

On Monday a horrified tourist found a decapitated head that matched DNA samples belonging to the missing man.

New Zealander Graeme Bickley told TV One News he and his wife Jan saw a bundle in the water while they were taking a walk along the beach.

The couple, like many staying at a nearby resort, were fascinated by the murder mystery and had been reading as much as they could about it.

Joking at first, they wondered whether this might be more body parts, Bickley told the New Zealand Herald.

“My wife spotted it and she said, ‘oh, look at that’ and I said, ‘oh, it’ll be more body parts’.

Bickley who waded out into the water to retrieve the object, said it was tied and secured with nylon fishing line, was weighed down by rocks, which made it hard to carry.

“I got it to shore finally and put it down on the sand and the stones rattled in it and I thought, ‘oh no, this is not good’.”

Although he and his wife chose not to open the bundle, police later confirmed it contained a human head.

Local media reported this week that detectives had information that a chainsaw was missing from the farm the couple were running on the main island of Viti Levu.

The Fiji Times said they were leasing the property and operating a photography business, with one friend describing them as “soulmates”.

However, their business partner, Andrew Luzanenko, told the Fiji Sun they had financial difficulties after the farm was devastated by Super Cyclone Winston this year.

He said they had been drinking heavily in recent weeks and thought their sudden disappearance last month was “weird”.

Police Chief of Intelligence and Investigation ACP Luke Navela told Newswire that investigations were underway and the police knew a lot of things they could not divulge to the public.

- PNC sources