A third person has been arrested over the shocking alleged murder of a Newcastle man who was allegedly stabbed to death by a group of aboriginals after he told them not to litter.
Queensland Police on Sunday arrested a 33-year-old man in Yeppoon over the death of James Callahan, 22, who was allegedly killed in Hamilton on November 17 while waiting for his order at a late-night eatery after finishing work.
Alivia Muriel Briggs, 33, and Jason Talbot, 27, who are both indigenous, were arrested the next day and charged with murder. Both were remanded in custody and neither had applied for bail.
Newcastle Local Court heard that Talbot was out on bail after being charged with multiple domestic violence and assault offences.
Video of the alleged murder posted on social media was described by police as “shocking” and “distressing”, and shows Mr Callahan being attacked by a group of people while a woman repeatedly screams “bash him”.
One man appeared to repeatedly stab Mr Callahan in the back during the attack.
Other members of the group can be heard telling a bystander not to intervene or “I’ll smash your head in”.
Mr Callahan collapses in the street at the end of the video, and could not be saved despite the desperate efforts of police and paramedics.
The video can be viewed in this thread:
A third arrest has been made over the alleged murder of James Callahan, 22, in Hamilton, Newcastle, by a group of aboriginals last weekend.
Police allege he was stabbed to death for telling them not to litter.https://t.co/5ZzDLjLVwj
— The Noticer (@NoticerNews) November 25, 2024
The keen fisherman and passionate environmentalist was farewelled by more than 100 people at Stockton breakwall on Sunday where his parents remembered him as a kind and caring soul who loved nature, The Newcastle News reported.
His mother Sally said she couldn’t understand why he had been targeted.
“I just can’t make sense of it,” she said.
Superintendent Kylie Endemi, the Newcastle City Police District commander said last week that police would alleged Mr Callahan had been murdered for telling his attacked not to throw rubbish on the street.
“He simply made a comment to a group of people about littering. As a result of that comment, we will allege a group of people attacked him,” he said.
“He suffered significant wounds and unfortunately passed away as a result of those injuries.”
A GoFundMe has been set up for Mr Callahan’s funeral and to erect a memorial plaque at his favourite fishing spots.
Header image: Left, an image from video of the alleged murder. Right, James Callahan.
