Two charged with murder of Geoffrey McLean after torso found in wheelie bin

One of the two people charged with the murder of an Adelaide man whose torso was found in a wheelie bin has faced court.

Mark John Murphy, 51, is charged with the murder of Geoffrey McLean, whose remains were found stuffed in a wheelie binin a vacant lot in Salisbury South in October last year.

Mr Murphy did not apply for bail when he appeared in court on Friday, but his defence counsel told the court an application was possible down the track.

Earlier, SA Police revealed two people had been charged with Mr McLean’s murder.

Outside the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Friday, lawyer Scott Jelbert, representing the McLean family, told NCA NewsWire that relatives were “elated” with the development.

“We’re grateful to both South Australia Police and particularly the community for helping name the accused,” Mr Jelbert said.

“They’re elated with this development.

“Major crimes detectives have been really supporting the whole family the whole time, so they’ve been really grateful for that.”

Detective Inspector Mark McEachern told reporters that a 51-year-old northern suburbs man and a 49-year-old woman had been arrested and charged with Mr McLean’s murder.

Mr McEachern said police alleged the woman was known to Mr McLean.

He said the pair were also alleged to have attacked Mr McLean before his death.

“I can say that the female we arrested today is known to Mr McLean, and with respect to the 51-year-old male, we don’t believe he is known to Mr McLean, but we do believe he is known to the female we have arrested today,” he said.

“The other offences that the male from yesterday has been charged with are aggravated assault, aggravated serious trespass and attempted murder, and they relate to (alleged) assaults upon Mr McLean that occurred in April last year.

“A female this morning has been charged with, in addition to murder, aggravated assault, aggravated serious criminal trespass, attempted murder, arson, an aggravated cause serious harm, and those (alleged) offences occurred in April and May last year.”

In February, police released CCTV footage of two people acting suspiciously near the lot where Mr McLean’s torso was dumped.

He was reported missing in late August and SA Police began a major search operation for him in September but believed he was dead.

Police later confirmed the wheelie bin used to discard some of Mr McLean’s body parts had been stolen from an address about 900m from the scene in Eastview St at Brahma Lodge.

Police allege the wheelie bin was stolen some time after his murder.

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