Gruesome details outlining the horrific final moments of a troubled dad have been aired for the first time.
Dance music fan Matthew John Warrington, 47, suffered a slow and agonising death at the hands of three thugs who treated him with callous disregard.
On Thursday, Kasha McIver, her boyfriend Dylan Wyatt and mate Brendan Dalton each faced the Supreme Court of Victoria over the death of Mr Warrington.
Although all three had initially faced murder charges, they each pleaded guilty in April to manslaughter in a prosecution deal that came about due to the high levels of illicit drugs later found in Mr Warrington’s system.
Mr Warrington is believed to have been killed sometime on July 16, 2023 inside the house of horrors he shared with McIver on Binalong Avenue, Chadstone in Melbourne’s south-east – the house was later set on fire by his attackers.
When police found the beloved father’s body propped up against a tree near Chadstone Shopping Centre it had been mangled beyond all comprehension, with wounds around both knees that suggested someone had tried to saw off his legs.
A finger had also been removed and duct tape was found tightly wound around his neck.
His body also appeared to have been brutally beaten by what police suspected was an extendable baton.
Matthew John Warrington, 47, suffered a slow and agonising death
Crown prosecutor David Glynn told the court after killing Mr Warrington, Wyatt paraded the severed finger, showed Polaroid photos of the distressed Warrington and admitted bashing, killing, chopping up, and dumping his body to make it look like suicide.
Police found three photos of Mr Warrington taken by McIver during what could have been the final moments of his life.
‘Wyatt is depicted in the photographs standing over Warrington. Warrington is hogtied and injured. Wyatt is holding Warrington up off the ground, tape wrapped around his neck, and making a sign of devil horns,’ Mr Glynn said.
‘The prosecution rely on the photographs as demonstrating the severity of the assault inflicted, the participation by both McIver and Wyatt in inflicting and documenting the assault, and the deceased’s state of extreme distress or incapacitation at that time.’
The court heard forensic experts were unable to determine exactly how Mr Warrington died despite evidence he had been severely bashed in the head and neck.
The court heard the trio planned to bash Mr Warrington to score drugs and cash and pay him back for supposedly allowing McIver to take the blame when his drugs were found by police in her home.
On the day of the attack, they believed Mr Warrington would be vulnerable due to his own drug habit and would be easily subdued.
The true extent of what happened that day will only be known by those three.
Brendan Dalton (left) arrives at the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne on Thursday.
But if the conversations that followed the incident were true, Mr Warrington could have suffered even worse than police could ever prove.
The court heard claims the group tortured Mr Warrington under false accusations he was a paedophile.
One man told police he overheard a conversation between the three discussing the things they planned to do in the attack.
‘I’ll throw acid in his face,’ Wyatt was allegedly heard saying.
‘I want to torture him,’ McIver chimed in before allegedly discussing how they would go about it.
This included tying him up, splashing acid on him and burning him, the court heard.
‘McIver and Wyatt were talking about a Taser they owned. Wyatt went outside to get a hammer,’ Mr Glynn said.
Forensic doctors would later find no evidence on Mr Warrington’s battered remains indicating he had been burnt, splashed with acid, or Tasered.
A forensic investigator is seen at a crime scene established at a residential property along Binalong Avenue in Chadstone in 2023
Police attend the house of horrors in Chadstone
The court heard the vile treatment of Mr Warrington’s corpse ought to earn the killers a harsher sentence.
Police were told Wyatt bragged about what had happened over the following days, producing his victim’s finger to friends like some kind of sick trophy.
‘Wyatt walked into the kitchen and produced a freezer bag containing the deceased’s severed finger and paraded the finger throwing it at those present,’ Mr Glynn said.
‘Wyatt made the following admissions as recounted by those present in respect of what had occurred: that he had bashed the deceased before they killed him; they chopped him up and put him in a wheelie bin before they dumped him on the track to make it look like it was a suicide.
‘He told (a man) “you can have your baton back I cleaned it”. And he justified the killing claiming that he “took out a paedophile”.’
The three will be sentenced at a date to be fixed.
