A 26-year-old man believed to be a domestic gardener has been arrested after police found an elderly man dead and a woman critically injured following a welfare check at a home.
A homicide investigation has been launched after the discovery of the couple in a home at about 9.20am on Thursday in the Moreton Bay suburb of Burpengary East, Queensland.
The man and woman, both in their 70s, were discovered suffering serious head injuries at the Bramston Court address.
The police were conducting a welfare check at the Bramston Court, Moreton Bay address when they discovered a man and a woman in their 70s with critical head injuries (pictured, general view of Bramston Court)
The man died at the scene and the woman was taken to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital in a critical condition.
Police have taken a 26-year-old Boondall man into custody.
Detective Inspector David Harbison told the media the 26-year-old had been ‘on or near the premises’ doing some gardening work.
‘The police allege a dispute of some type has broken out …. an altercation and unfortunately the 70-year-old victims have been severely injured,’ he said.
Mr Harbison said police are still investigating if implements or weapons were used in the incident.
‘It’s very early days, we don’t have all the facts yet,’ he said.
‘I want to stress that this is not a domestic family violence related incident.
‘We don’t believe the 26-year-old male person was previously known to the victims.’
It is alleged a man was gardening before a dispute and alteration broke out
Police believe the gardener was dropped off by friends and was doing work across two addresses.
‘The person at the other address witnessed the incident,’ he said.
Mr Harbison said the witness, who contacted authorities, is ‘devastated’ after seeing the ‘traumatic’ event.
The detective inspector said the crime scene was ‘substantial’ and it will be guarded for some time.
‘The man [26-year-old] was not injured and was taken into police custody without incident,’ he said.
Police do not believe there is any threat to the public and they are not looking for anybody else.
Police do not know what led to the incident and are urging any witnesses or those with dashcam footage to come forward.