Chef who killed trans wife undone by smell of boiled human flesh – New York Post

It was the smell that drew police to the inner Brisbane apartment.

A foul stench no one could quite place. Unmistakably foreign.

But no one could have imagined the true horror that lay behind that apartment door.

Human flesh in a large pot, removed from a nearby stovetop.

Marcus Volke was a chef by trade a chef with a particular interest in bone broth. But the final broth the 27-year-old would make came not from a quest for healthy living.

He made it to conceal a murder, and the sordid double life his family knew nothing about.

The two officers who called at Volkes apartment, ostensibly for a welfare check, thought they had stumbled upon a sick prank.

In the pot he had been using to cook his partner Mayang Prasetyos body parts, they found what appeared to be human feet.

Other parts of Prasetyos dismembered remains were found in a garbage bag near the washing machine.

The inquest into Prasetyos and Volkes deaths heard that Senior Constable Bryan Reid and Constable Luke McWhinney initially were called to conduct a routine welfare check late on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2014.

(There) was a bad smell, it was something I hadnt smelt before and cant really describe, Reid said on the opening day of the inquest in Brisbane on Monday.

An electrician had earlier visited to restore power in Volkes apartment, which he had short-circuited when the pot on his stove boiled over.

It was the electrician who raised the alarm.

The building managers called police, concerned about that odd smell and that the woman who lived there with him had not been seen for a couple of days.

Reid said Volke was initially cooperative when they questioned him outside his apartment.

But when he went back inside, telling the officers he needed to secure the pairs dogs, Volke locked the door, self-harmed and jumped his balcony fence to escape to a rear alley.

There was a pool of blood on the floor beside the pot that contained Prasetyos feet.

Volke was later found dead inside an industrial garbage can.

He had been seeking treatment for mental health problems in the weeks leading up to the death, the three-day inquest was told.

Detective Sgt. Joshua Walsh told the court that the couple had met and struck a deal to help each other while working as escorts, according to police interviews ofVolkes former partners.

She provided the information that they were residing together for an extended period of time, Walsh said. During that time, Marcus had accrued a debt of approximately $6,600 in credit cards, with no means of repaying it.

The detective said Volke had worked as a chef part-time but was unable to continue because he had mental health problems. He decided to become a male escort in Melbourne clubs as a way of repaying the debt.

Thats where he met Prasetyo, born Febri Andriansyah in Indonesia, who had begun transitioning into a woman before she moved to Australia.

They came up with an agreement between the two parties that [Volke] would assist with her getting a permanent partner visa for Australia and she would assist him within transgender clubs within Melbourne and overseas, in Europe and Asia.

The pair had traveled through Asia and Europe together, working as escorts in transgender clubs, the court heard.

Walsh said Volke and his former partner later kept in regular contact through emails and Facebook.

She was able to ascertain that he was struggling, with both his identity and his employment, and wanted to break free from that and start as a dog breeder in Brisbane upon his return, he said. On one occasion she stated that he was considering self-harm.

The court was told thatVolke had presented to a doctor with anxiety, depression and a sleep disorder, and had previously been treated by a hospital as a teenager.

The Double One 3 apartment complex in the up-market, riverside enclave of Teneriffe, Brisbane, was so new in early October 2014, a giant banner still hung on the side of the building advertising units for rent.

Finishing touches were still being applied inside.

Pieces of paper taped to walls directed residents to their new homes, for which investors had paid upwards of $450,000.

Volke, who was raised in a small farming community, was among the first to move in.

He and his young Indonesian wife, Prasetyo, had lived in a ground-floor apartment with their three small pugs for just a couple of months.

During their brief tenure in the building, Prasetyo was frequently seen walking the dogs along the riverside paths and in parks nearby.

On the surface, they were a young couple who had recently returned to Brisbane after working on cruise ships, he as a chef, she as a cabaret dancer.

The reality was very, very different.

Volke left his farm life after high school, but he soon discovered a lucrative new profession.

At Pleasure Dome brothel, which promotes itself as having Australias finest selection of male escorts and transsexuals, he was introduced to fellow sex worker Prasetyo.

She was working as a high-class transgender escort, eventually charging her clients $370 per hour.

She sent the funds back to her impoverished mother and two younger sisters at home, paying for the girls to go to school.

They had no idea how she was earning the money that supported them.

The couple moved into private escort services after leaving the brothel and traveled the world plying their trade.

They settled for a while in Denmark, where, under the name Heath XL, Volke advertised himself as a young sexy Australian boy, very friendly and easy going, discreet and professional.

Im open to all kinds of people, ages, and backgrounds but if you are cool, serious and generous, then we can be a match!

In 2013, the couple married in Copenhagen, after Volke asked his prospective mother-in-law for permission to marry her daughter on a return trip the couple made to Indonesia.

While Prasetyos family knew of her marriage, Volkes family were completely in the dark.

As far as they knew, the son who infrequently called home and occasionally visited alone was traveling the world while cooking on cruise ships.

They knew nothing of Prasetyos existence, or of their sons double life.

The extent of his deception was not revealed until after his death.

In addition to coming to terms with the grief of suddenly losing their son, his parents also had to absorb the details of his sordid life being so publicly exposed.

When reporters came knocking at the family property in the days following the deaths, Volkes clearly distressed father, Peter, a karate instructor, chased them away.

The 27-year-old was bid farewell in a small, private funeral service.

Media interest was high but they were told, in no uncertain terms, they were not welcome.

Volke and his new wife returned to Australia nearly a year after their August 2013 marriage in Copenhagen.

Like many affluent young professionals, they chose to live in Brisbane.

Brisbane boasts plentiful cafes, bars and boutiques, among the rustic, riverside red brick buildings that once operated as wool stores, now converted to sought-after apartments.

The couple both continued to work as private escorts.

Friends and family hinted that, despite their recent marriage, their relationship was a volatile one.

None of them could have foreseen the horror to come.

Neighbors heard Volke and his wife fighting inside their apartment late on Oct. 2.

Prasetyo was not seen again.

In the days following the discovery of her remains, Detective Senior Sgt. Tom Armitt said investigators did not believe the murder was a premeditated one, but the tragic outcome of a heated domestic dispute.

The true circumstances of her death may never be known.

But while Volke may not have intended to kill Prasetyo, he went to extreme lengths to cover up her murder.

It was not just the inevitable charges and loss of his liberty that was looming.

The discovery of her death would also expose the life he had so carefully hidden for so many years.

Stuck with his wifes body in a heavily populated area, Volke got to work disposing of it.

He took out a large pot and one of his chefs knives and cut her into pieces.

It is not known exactly when he hatched his disturbing plan.

But by Saturday, there was that distinctive stench pervading the air of the Double One 3 complex. It was the first sign that something was amiss in Volkes apartment.

It was similar to rotting meat, some residents later told police. Like dog food, others reported.

The smell itself may not have ever been enough for residents to call police and Volke may well have gotten away with murder.

But on that Saturday, two days after Prasetyos death, the tide turned.

The pot Volke was using to cook parts of his wifes body boiled over and into the electric oven.

The appliance short-circuited and cut the power supply to the apartment.

To carry out his plan, Volke had no choice but to phone an electrician.

He sounded casual when he called Brad Coyne.

Gday, is this a 24-hour electrician? he asked in that phone call.

Yeah, came Coynes reply.

Ive got a bit of a problem.

Later that day, Coyne knocked on the apartment door.

You have to mind the smell, Volke said to him.

He was cooking pigs broth, he explained to the electrician, who already suspected otherwise.

Garbage bags were strewn around the apartment.

There were bottles of chemicals and rubber gloves, the smell of bleach mingling with that odd, foul stench.

He restored the power and left the apartment.

On the way out, he talked to the building manager and police were called.

Within hours, Volke would also take his own life.

Investigating police officers Reid and McWhinney responded to the building managers request for the welfare check.

The scene that confronted the officers in that nearly new unit was particularly gruesome.

Volke instinctively fled.

He slashed his own throat inside the apartment before jumping his balcony fence, which faced an alley behind the building, leaving it smeared with blood.

He continued to leave a blood trail as he ran and hid in an industrial garbage can in a nearby alley.

With a suspected murderer on the loose, police quickly mobilized and soon an estimated 15 officers swarmed the area.

For years, Volke had successfully concealed his marriage and life as a male sex worker.

As he hid from police in the wheeled garbage can, it was all on the brink of exposure.

It was inside the can that he died, the blood streaming from his throat. Subsequent CPR attempts by police and paramedics were utterly hopeless.

The investigation into Volke and Prasetyos death was a lengthy and painstaking one.

The Queensland Ethical Standards Command, the body reserved for internal police investigations, led the probe, as Volke was on the run from two officers when he took his life.

This week, Coroner Terry Ryan will hear submissions to make the final ruling on one of Brisbanes most gruesome cases of murder-suicide.

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Chef who killed trans wife undone by smell of boiled human flesh - New York Post