A 33-year-old man has been charged with murder following the grisly discovery of human bones in a burnt-out tree trunk.
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The gruesome find came about during extensive searches of a property on Wilbertree Road in Menah - about nine kilometres north of Mudgee - after 53-year-old David Collisson was reported missing on October 15, 2023.
Mr Collisson had been recently released from a prison sentence he was serving for the "cold blooded, callous and cruel shooting" of 17-year-old Shahab Kargarian in 2000.
Local police commenced inquiries to locate the 53-year-old before the matter was referred to Orana Mid-Western Police Area Command and state crime command's homicide squad under Strike Force Utyana.
Strike force detectives - with assistance from the dog squad and police divers - commenced a search of the property where Mr Collisson was last seen on Wednesday, October 25, 2023.
During an extensive search of the property, on Thursday, October 26, 2023, a number of bones - believed to be human - were located in a burnt-out tree trunk.
They were sent for further forensic examination.
Following additional inquiries, at about 10:15am on Saturday, November 4, detectives arrested a 33-year-old man at Maroubra Police Station, where he was charged with murder and a number of firearms offences.
The man was remanded in custody to appear in Parramatta Local Court on Sunday, November 5.
Police will allege in court the man fatally shot Mr Collisson at the property over a dispute.
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