34-year-old Zlatko Sikorsky. Photo / Queensland Police
Fugitive Zlatko Sikorsky has surrendered to police following a "highly complex and lengthy negotiation" lasting nearly 28 hours.
The man wanted in connection with a murdered girl dumped in a barrel has been arrested following a "highly complex and lengthy negotiation" lasting nearly 28 hours after barricading himself inside a Sunshine Coast unit.
Police said 34-year-old Zlatko Sikorsky surrended without incident around 6:30pm on Saturday. At about 3:30pm on Friday, he was located at a unit complex in Juan Street and an emergency declaration was made under the Public Safety Preservation Act.
Sunshine Coast District Officer Superintendent Darryl Johnson said in a statement that at all times during the incident, public safety remained the top priority of police.
"It was important to give our negotiators the time and space to help us resolve this peacefully – and I am relieved that we have been able to take this man into custody without him, any member of the public or any of our officers being hurt," Superintendent Johnson said.
"I want to thank the people of Alexandra Headlands – particularly those living within our exclusion zone – for their patience and assistance during the last 24 hours. It is very much appreciated."
Sikorsky has been taken to the Maroochydore Watch House.
During the earlier stand-off, a "shocked" resident claimed he inadvertently let Sikorsky into his home, not knowing who he was, when an "old friend" brought him to visit.
The man, who said his name was Joe but didn't want his full identity disclosed, told reporters he was the tenant of the apartment where Sikorsky has barricaded himself.
He claimed a friend he hadn't seen in more than a year asked him if he could visit on Friday, and "brought this bloke", according to The Daily Mail.
"Joe" said he didn't know who Sikorsky was, or that police were seeking him, when the pair arrived.
"He seemed cool and calm, he wasn't an angry bloke," Joe said.
Joe claimed the building manager knocked to follow up on reports of a verbal disagreement which he had been engaged in with his ex-partner. Sikorsky opened the door before the manager reportedly recognised him, "put two and two together", and alerted police.
Joe said he and his ex-partner left the apartment, separately, about 15 minutes later. Joe said when he returned from the shops, police wouldn't let him back in, and it was then he was "shocked" to discover Sikorsky was wanted by police.
Police believe a network of criminal associates may have helped hide the fugitive. News.com.au does not suggest Joe was one of them.
WANTED SINCE WEDNESDAY
Sikorsky has been the subject of a massive manhunt since Wednesday, sought for questioning over the death of a female, whose body was found in a barrel on the back of a ute.
Senior police earlier said negotiators had been making steady progress but hours of negotiations had not persuaded Sikorsky to leave the unit. Up to 40 police officers, including Specialist Emergency Response Team personnel, were locked in a stand-off at the complex.
Police teams at the scene were refreshed in a second shift changeover as negotiations crawled into their second day.
Superintendent Darryl Johnson of Queensland Police had warned the siege could drag on for "possible days".
"We've seen these situations go for lengthy periods," Supt Johnson said on Saturday morning.
Sikorsky told police he "will shoot if they come near [him]", according to 9 News.
The complex was evacuated and surrounding streets cordoned off by police.
On Friday, resident Fern Murphy, 24, told news.com.au she heard a man yelling to police for about a minute that he "was turning his phone on" and waiting for them to call him.
"I then went out on my veranda and heard something along the lines of 'I have a weapon' or 'I have weapons'," Ms Murphy said.
Another witness said he could hear a man making demands in a neighbouring unit about wanting to speak to his girlfriend and father.
A witness later told The Courier Mail Sikorsky was heard to say "I just don't want to get shot" before ordering police to back off.
FATHER MAKES CONTACT
Police continued to communicate with Sikorsky throughout the night and even allowed his father, John Sikorsky, to visit him.
John Sikorsky reportedly arrived at the complex wearing orange hi-vis just after 9pm Friday.
He exited the apartment complex almost two hours later, appearing happy and animated as he spoke to police, before driving away in a Toyota Hilux, The Daily Mail reported.
Earlier this week, John Sikorsky told the Courier-Mail people needed to "wait for police to do their job".
"Hopefully all of this is nothing but rubbish," he said.
"My son, he is a decent person."
Queensland Police declared an emergency situation and blocked off several roads in an exclusion zone.
"The declaration was made around 3:25pm for Juan Street and is bounded by Alex Parade to the north, Mary Street to the west, Mayfield Street to the east and William Street to the south," a police statement released on Friday said.
Officers said they were being cautious in their approach and are hopeful Sikorsky would hand himself in.
The area surrounding the unit block was put in lockdown, with residents told to remain indoors and the public to avoid the exclusion zone.
The Headland Gardens holiday apartment block where Sikorsky was hiding out offers "spacious resort-style holiday complexes" and features 27 self-contained units, according to the company's website. News.com.au understands the complex was booked out on Friday night.
MANHUNT
It's believed Sikorsky fled from a property at Buccan in Logan, south of Brisbane, when police went to make inquiries about missing person Larissa Beilby, 16, about 1:30pm on Wednesday. Ms Beilby had been living in a halfway house in Brisbane but had been dating Sikorsky, The Courier-Mail reports.
The newspaper reported that Ms Beilby expressed concerns to friends that her boyfriend Sikorsky might discover she was only 16 years old.
She had reportedly been linked to another man before Sikorsky but left him after feeling threatened.
The man thought to be Sikorsky took off from the house in a black ute with a barrel loaded onto the tray and covered by a tarp.
He arrived at a nearby gated complex in the Gold Coast suburb of Stapylton where a female resident claimed he pointed a shotgun at her and demanded to be let into her housing estate.
The woman said it was at that moment she saw a "dead arm" sticking out of the blue barrel.
"There was a blue barrel with, all I've seen is an arm flapping out, it was a little bit scary," she told reporters.
"There was just the one barrel, it wasn't massive either, it was only small. I just seen (sic) an arm, a dead arm."
She said the man pointed the gun at her before offering her money to be let inside the complex.
She said the ute was badly damaged and that she was surprised the man was able to drive it.
"The windows were all shot out, bullet holes through the bonnet of the ute," the woman said.
"He pulled out a shotgun and said to me and my partner 'I'll give you two grand if you let me in the gate right now' so we lifted up the gate and let him in," said the woman.
Police were called to the Stapylton complex where they found the badly decomposed body stuffed into a barrel on the ute's tray.
"A further search of the vehicle uncovered a deceased person," police said in a statement.
"Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death."
The body was so badly decomposed police warned it could take a number of days to formally identify the woman.
Queensland Police haven't confirmed the body in the barrel was that of Ms Beilby but did confirm the missing teenager was "associated" with the wanted man who was able to get away again in another car.
Insp Furlong would not confirm reports that officers had found bullets and knuckle dusters in the ute Sikorsky allegedly left behind.
A Queensland Police spokesman told news.com.au that Ms Beilby was still officially missing.
Police appealed for information regarding her whereabouts earlier this week.
In a statement released on Tuesday, police said Ms Beilby was "last seen at an address on Kempster Road and has not contacted family or friends since June 18".
Insp Furlong said the man who fled in the ute was at the centre of the murder investigation but that it was possible other people were involved.
Sikorsky was believed to be travelling in a silver 2014 Holden Commodore with a sunroof and Queensland registration 966 WKB.
"We consider him dangerous," Insp Furlong said.
WANTED MAN'S CRIMINAL PAST
Sikorsky has an extensive criminal history which includes armed robbery, deprivation of liberty and four extortion offences.
He pleaded guilty to 14 charges and received a five-year prison term when sentenced in September 2016. But he had already served 594 days in custody which was declared as time served, with his parole eligibility date set for October 2016, and he was released on January 6, 2017.
Police have had a warrant to arrest Sikorsky since March 15, after he breached his parole conditions.
In 2003, Sikorsky, then 19, pleaded guilty to the charge of unlicensed driving after he was caught behind the wheel just days after his license was suspended for speeding offences.
The court heard the contract cleaner, of Slacks Creek, was often away for long periods for work and was not aware of the suspension when stopped by police. He was given a mandatory six-month licence suspension on top of a $300 fine.
The conflict has entered its seventh day.