Tiahleigh Palmer: Pallbearer foster dad turns murder accused
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...d/news-story/10f0539247643dc7c3a17aeb91ae1028
He was the foster father to 12-year-old Tiahleigh Palmer. He wore a face of grief as pallbearer at the funeral of the bright Logan schoolgirl whose body was found on a river bank.
Now, almost a year after her disappearance and death, 56-year-old Rick Thorburn has been charged with her murder and his youngest son, Trent, 19, with perjury and incest. The charges yesterday followed a dramatic few days during which Tiahleighs mother, Cindy Palmer, criticised police and took to social media to out Mr Thorburn as the former owner of a car seized last week in the hunt for the killer.
As speculation grew about the target of the investigation, police swooped on the Thorburn home at Chambers Flat, south of Brisbane, and took Mr Thorburn, his wife, Julene, 54, and sons Trent and Josh into custody.
Within hours, Mr Thorburn, a classic car dealer and former truck driver, was charged with *Tiahleighs murder and interfering with a corpse and Trent with attempting to pervert the course of justice, *incest and two charges of perjury.
One avenue of investigation police are understood to be pursuing is whether Mr Thorburn allegedly murdered Tiahleigh to protect Trent when he discovered his 19-year-old son sexually *assaulted the 12-year-old girl. It is understood the breakthrough came after the family had to *appear at secret star chamber hearings of the Crime and Corruption Commission.
The CCC has increasingly been drafted by police to use its compulsion powers to force witnesses to give evidence under the threat of jail.
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