Jordan Lucas 'got on with everyone' his ex-girlfriend said. Photo / One News
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A former girlfriend of murdered New Zealander Jordan Lucas says he was a generous, mellow man, and is shocked by the brutal circumstances surrounding his death in Bali.
The body of Mr Lucas, who spent five years living in Mount Maunganui, was discovered at Uluwatu Beach on the southern coast
of Bali by a fisherman last week.
The Jakarta Globe reported that police believe he was murdered.
The newspaper said his head was crushed and he was dead when his body entered the water. His thighs were also injured.
Talia Marshall, 28, who works as a solicitor in Mount Maunganui, had a four-year teenage romance with Mr Lucas and said she last spoke to him when he contacted her via Skype on her birthday in May. She said he was in Lombok, near Bali, at the time.
Miss Marshall said the pair met at Mount Maunganui beach when she was 14 and had remained friends since, catching up when Mr Lucas returned to Mount Maunganui.
"He's just a guy who got on with everyone and never got in any trouble," she said.
Miss Marshall described Mr Lucas as "a real cruiser", generous, quiet and non-confrontational, saying his death was likely to be a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"He's a guy that would have never argued or never got into fights."
Miss Marshall said it was highly unlikely Mr Lucas' death was drug-related in any way, saying he was never a drug user nor much of a partier or big drinker.
She said he had just built his own home on his parents' Waikato farm and loved to travel the world snowboarding and surfing, raving about his regular trips to Bali.
"He'd work so he could go away and do that," she said.
Miss Marshall said Mr Lucas lived at the Mount for five years during the time they were dating and had been back since.
"He's got heaps of friends in the Mount," she said.
Mr Lucas' parents, Julie and Graham Lucas, were expected to arrive in Bali late last night where they will formally identify the body of their son.
