Aaron Bunch Journalist with Australian Associated Press | Collection of published work | + 61 484 008 119 | abunch@aap.com.au

Aaron Bunch
Qld murder accused lied about police call

The brother of a wealthy Queensland man missing for more than 20 years says their nephew, who is accused of killing his uncle, lied about a call to the police.

June 17, 2019

A cash-strapped Queensland man, who allegedly confessed to smashing his wealthy uncle’s head in, also allegedly lied to his family about a call to the police.

Robert James Wagner, 57, is accused of murdering Gerhard Wagner, 61, at his Brisbane home on January 7, 1999, amid a row over money.

It’s alleged Wagner invited his uncle over, killed him, dismembered his body with an axe and dumped it in the Glass House Mountains.

Wagner has pleaded not guilty to the murder.

Gerhard Wagner’s youngest brother, Peter Wagner, has told Brisbane Supreme Court his nephew was unusually difficult to contact after January 7. 

Peter Wagner was keen to contact police to raise the alarm that his brother had disappeared but first wanted to talk to Wagner, who was like a son to Gerhard Wagner.

He said when they finally spoke, Wagner informed him the police had already been called.

“He said something about the police told him to come back or something in a week,” Peter Wagner told the court.

Suspicious their eldest brother may have met with foul play, Peter Wagner and his other brother, Paul Wagner, then rang detectives to further discuss the matter.

“The policeman said ‘no, he never told Robert that’,” he said.

The brothers also found the phone off the hook at Gerhard Wagner’s home.

“We knew it was something funny straight away,” he said.

“He’d already been gone for a few days and he never told anybody – he wouldn’t just disappear.”

Gerhard Wagner was last seen riding his motorbike about 3pm on January 7 after working on his 42-foot yacht at a Brisbane marina.

He had a dinner date that night and had been planning to sail around the world.

But the former merchant seaman didn’t turn up for the date and his body has never been found.

The trial continues on Monday.

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