Detectives have travelled to California to extradite a man over the 2018 murder of Wachira ‘Mario’ Phetmang, whose body was discovered on the side of the road at Sydney Olympic Park.
About 10.30pm on Wednesday 6 June 2018, police were called to ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾bush Bay Drive, Sydney Olympic Park, after the body of a man was discovered on the side of the road by a passing truck driver.
The body was wrapped in a plastic material and covered with a mattress protector.
Officers from Auburn Police Area Command established a crime scene, which was examined by specialist forensic officers.
The man was formally identified as 33-year-old Thai ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾, Wachira ‘Mario’ Phetmang, who had been living in Australia for the last 10 years, and most recently living at Hurstville.
A post mortem examination revealed Mario had been seriously assaulted, and his cause of death was blunt-force trauma.
Detectives from the State Crime Command’s Homicide Squad and Auburn Police Area Command established Strike Force Sinder to investigate the circumstances of Mario’s murder.
Following inquiries, strike force detectives applied for and were granted an arrest warrant for a 38-year-old man on Tuesday 11 September 2018. It was believed the man had already travelled overseas.
Late last year, police were notified the man, who is a US ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾, had been arrested in California by US authorities for an unrelated matter.
Authorities in the United States have since ordered the man’s extradition to Australia.
Earlier this week, Strike Force Sinder detectives travelled to San Diego, California, to coordinate the extradition to NSW.
No further information is available at this time.
