An aboriginal murderer has killed himself in jail days after being charged over the tragic death of 19-year-old Audrey Griffin, whose body was found in a creek in Erina on the NSW Central Coast last month.
Adrian Noel Torrens, 53, committed suicide in his cell at the Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre (MRRC) in Silverwater on Thursday and was found at 4.50pm, police said, adding that his death was not being considered suspicious.
Torrens was remanded in custody on Tuesday after being charged with one count of murder over the senseless killing of Ms Griffin, and 11 unrelated domestic violence offences.
The Daily Telegraph reported on Friday he had confessed to the killing in a phone call to an associate, told another person he left Ms Griffin’s body “in the mangroves” and said in a different call: “I killed someone about a month ago and now they’re looking for me.”
“Why did I do it? I don’t know, I do not … I just fucking clicked and I have no reason for my actions. I just did it, man. I was so fucked up, you know? I was awake for four or five fucking days, and I just did it,” Torrens told an associate on the phone.
Torrens’ ex-girlfriend had also contacted police to tell them he was the man in CCTV footage released in an identification appeal, and that he had repeatedly breached a domestic violence restraining order.
Ms Griffin, from Sydney, had been visiting friends on the Central Coast but vanished shortly after leaving the Hotel Gosford in the early hours of March 23 and saying she was going to take an Uber to where she was staying.
Her body was found face-down in Erina Creek, Erina, after she was reported missing the next day, and police initially believed she had drowned.
Brisbane Water District Commander Darryl Jobson said earlier this week a post-mortem did not suggest Ms Griffin’s death was suspicious, but a strike force was set up which eventually became a murder investigation, and public assistance was sought to identify a man who turned out to be Torrens on CCTV.
Torrens was arrested on Monday, and police said he had a “physical altercation” with Ms Griffin where she screamed and tried to fight him off, leaving his DNA on her fingernail.
Torrens then struck her in the face, causing her to fall into the water unconscious and drown, or he held her under the water, police said, adding that Torrens’ phone pinged near where her body was found at 2.43am. A witness told police they heard a high-pitched scream at about 3am, which they dismissed as a fox.
Ms Griffin was a keen athlete, a surf lifesaver, and a student at the University of Technology Sydney, and was farewelled by hundreds of mourners at her funeral on April 11.
Header image: Left, Adrian Torrens. Right, Audrey Griffin (Facebook).
