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The QLD Butcher who Died in a Woodchipper Was Likely Murdered

New information has prompted a major review of the case, police revealed yesterday.
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Last November, popular country butcher Bruce Saunders died when he fell into a large industrial woodchipper near Gympie, 200km north of Brisbane. Police have now revealed the finding of more human remains belonging to Saunders, including new items of interest such as clothes and mobile phone fragments, and confirmed that the 54-year-old's death is being treated as a murder case, The Courier-Mail reports. State Emergency Service (SES) workers were ordered to search the property yesterday by the Homicide Squad, which resulted in the new evidence. Existing evidence was also forensically examined.

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Bruce Saunders. Photo: Seven News

This marks a u-turn in the investigation, which was initially believed to have been a tragic accident. The night he died, Saunders had been working with two male friends to help a local widow clear timber from her property, and it was thought he simply became entangled in the machine as he used it to mulch branches. (The widow is not implicated in the case.) Paul Algie, Gympie Police acting inspector, said at the time that it was “one of the worst incident scenes I’ve ever seen" during his 16-year career in the police force.

Police have re-interviewed the two friends working with Saunders the night he died, and a third (unnamed) person of interest. There has also been speculation that the death was driven by a love triangle involving a woman — it's believed Saunders had recently started a new romance prior to his death. The machine was not found to be faulty, and all its safety functions were in tact, police said.

No charges have been laid so far.