The search for the killer of New Zealand hairdresser Paula Brown was led astray after a man lied to Australian police to protect his immigration status.
Sydney Detective Sergeant Michael Fitzgerald told the Weekend Herald yesterday that Talal Abdallah, aged 28, a cleaner from Lakemba, was working illegally as the security guard at Hungry Jack's takeaway restaurant the day Ms Brown disappeared more than four years ago.
He told police he had not seen Ms Brown, but gave the description of a male customer, allegedly acting suspiciously in the restaurant, which was released to the public as an identikit of the killer.
In fact, Abdallah saw Ms Brown leave the restaurant with a man, but it was now too long ago for him to identify him.
Ms Brown, aged 30, the manager of a hairdressing salon in The Rocks area of downtown Sydney, was last seen alive in inner-city Darlinghurst early on May 4, 1996, after a night out with her friends.
Her battered body was found eight days later in bushland at Port Botany., south of the central city.
Abdallah has been charged with hindering the police investigation into the Ms Brown's murder. He appeared in the Bankstown Local Court this week and was remanded for four weeks.
Lies misled murder hunt
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