In connection with the alleged kidnapping, assault, and murder of a South Australian man, four men and a woman have been detained.
Between November 8 and November 16 of 2020, Robert Atkins is said to have been abducted and held under “physical and coercive control” by a group of criminals.
Police said he was imprisoned in three different places during this time and assaulted several times.
On November 16, when he was last seen alive in Adelaide’s Mid North, police suspect he was killed and buried.
The murder of Atkins will be blamed on one man.
He will face charges for their claimed roles in the kidnapping and assault of the victim, along with three other men and a woman.
According to police, the following charges will likely be brought tonight:
A 32-year-old Christie Downs resident will face two counts of intentionally causing harm and two counts of unlawful detention.
An Adelaide Remand Centre inmate, 43, will face one count of intentionally causing harm and one count of wrongful imprisonment.
A 25-year-old female inmate at Adelaide Women’s Prison will face two counts of intentionally causing damage and two counts of wrongful detention.
Charges against a 30-year-old man being held at the Adelaide Remand Centre include encouraging someone to hurt someone else and encouraging the unlawful detention of a third party.
When the trio appeared in court tomorrow, Detective Brett Featherby predicted that bail would be denied.
Featherby stated that authorities are still looking into persons who helped the criminals get rid of evidence, particularly a gun and ammunition.
People should feel secure enough to approach police and cooperate after today’s arrests, he said.
He issued a 10-year prison sentence as a possible punishment for anyone who assisted the perpetrators in disposing of evidence.
Featherby added that if the five are found guilty and refuse to provide the location of Atkins’ body, police will attempt to use the no body, no parole rule.
Atkins, Trevor King, and Jeffrey Mundy are still under investigation.
Police claim that King’s death was staged to appear like a suicide when his body was discovered in waters close to West Lakes.
King was allegedly held captive at a house where he was beaten with a baseball bat, set ablaze, and attacked with a blowtorch. Nearly a year later, his body was discovered.
Police suspect that Mundy spent his final hours imprisoned inside a shipping container on a Lonsdale property that is frequently used by drug dealers.
The missing father is thought to have left the scene and been found before he was killed.
His corpse has also not been located.
