A man has been charged with murder after an alleged axe attack at a New South Wales campground.
Emergency services were called to Thora, 10km north-west of Bellingen, just after midnight on Monday. They found a 33-year-old man who had died from critical head injuries.
Police officers were told by the victim’s friend that he had allegedly been struck in the head with an axe a few hours before, while camping at Little Styx River near Ebor.
The friend, a 25-year-old woman, alleged she had been assaulted as well and drove the man from the remote campground to Thora to seek help before he died. She was treated for bruising to her neck.
Investigators said the three people knew each other and had been camping together.
Police later arrested 26-year-old Ahwen Kohn near Ebor before midday on Monday. He was taken to Armidale police station and has since been charged with murder, intentionally choking a person with recklessness and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Kohn was refused bail on Tuesday afternoon.
The magistrate Miranda Moody said he had no history of violence, but she was concerned by the seriousness of the allegations.
“What is even more concerning is a man with a limited history … would allegedly commit a murder so serious in terms of the facts involving an axe to the deceased,” Moody said during the bail hearing.
“I consider that is a real concern. It hasn’t been demonstrated why his detention is not justified.”
Kohn was next scheduled to appear in court in Armidale on 22 April. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Supt Chris McKinnon said during a news briefing on Monday that police believed the victim and the suspect were known to each other. Investigations into the alleged altercation were continuing.
“It’s our understanding that they knew each other, they were known to each other, and they were camping together along with a female,” McKinnon told reporters.
He said that there was an argument at some point before the alleged attack, but police were unclear what it may have been about.
Police believe the victim lived in the Thora area, as did the 26-year-old accused.
A crime was established at the campground on Point Lookout Road in Ebor, with detectives from the homicide squad assisting under strike force Ullmark.
