Australian police have arrested one of the country’s most wanted fugitives following a 12-year manhunt.
Graham Potter, 64, had been on the run since 2010 after he failed to show up in court to face conspiracy to murder charges in the state of Victoria.
Police arrested him on Monday morning after they were told he was thousands of kilometres away in Queensland.
Footage of the arrest showed him standing in a dilapidated room before being handcuffed and taken away.
A convicted killer, Potter had earlier been sentenced to life imprisonment in 1981 for the decapitation and murder of a teenage girl. He was released after serving 15 years of his sentence.
On Monday, he was arrested at 08:45 local time (23:45GMT Sunday) at a house in Ravenshoe, in the far north of Queensland.
When he went into hiding, Potter was facing federal charges over an ecstasy and cocaine haul worth A$440m (£232m; $317m), in addition to the conspiracy to murder charges.
There had been several unconfirmed sightings of him across the country since, but police had reached a dead end in their search for Potter in 2017, according to Australian outlet, The Age.
A reward of a $100,000 had been offered for information leading to his arrest.
Potter had experimented with changing his appearance and demeanour to evade detection, and he was discovered with items that could disguise him, such as hair dye, according to Victoria Police.
“This certainly puts a long and protracted end to a hunt for a very high-end fugitive who is wanted for very serious criminal charges,” said Mick Frewen, Acting Assistant Commissioner of Crime Command in Victoria.
Potter will be extradited to Victoria, where he will face court on Tuesday.
In the past week, Australians have been shocked by the killing of a young woman who had been walking home at night in Melbourne.
The death of Israeli Arab student, Aya Maasarwe, 21, has sparked an outcry and fresh debate about violence against women in Australia.
According to her family, Ms Maasarwe’s belief that Australia was “safer” than other places was one reason she had opted for a university exchange there.
Her killing follows several high-profile murders in Australia in recent times which have caused similar anger. -BBC
