Larissa Beilby, 16, was reported missing from Sandgate in Queensland on June 15. Photo / Supplied
The man wanted in connection with a murdered girl dumped in a barrel remains barricaded inside a "resort style" Sunshine Coast unit early today surrounded by heavily armed police.
It has been more than 16 hours since police declared an emergency situation around the Alexandra Headlands unit complex where fugitive Zlatko Sikorsky, 34, has been holed up since yesterday afternoon.
Sikorsky, who is believed to be in possession of a firearm, had been the subject of a massive manhunt for two days and is wanted for questioning over the death of the female, who was found in a barrel on the back of a ute.
Superintendent Darryl Johnson of Queensland Police warned the siege could drag on for hours and possibly days.
"We've seen these situations go for lengthy periods," Supt Johnson said this morning.
"We are probably into 15 hours now that we've been negotiating.
"It's taking its toll on our police who are on the ground as well.
"We are doing all we can to resolve it as quickly as we can."
Police have continued to communicate with Sikorsky throughout the night and has even allowed his father to visit him.
Sikorsky told police he "will shoot if they come near [him]", according to 9 News.
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.
"I believe he's on the phone to a negotiator," he told the Courier Mail.
A witness later told the newspaper Sikorsky was heard to say "I just don't want to get shot" before ordering police to back off.
Queensland Police has declared an emergency situation under the Public Safety Preservation Act and blocked off several roads in an exclusion zone.
HAPPENING NOW: Emergency declaration for Juan Street while police negotiate with a man at Alexandra Headlands. @WINNews_SCoast @tennewsqld pic.twitter.com/YoRKJaSrn3
— Johnpaul Gonzo (@JohnpaulGonzo) June 29, 2018
"The declaration was made around 3.25pm for Juan St and is bounded by Alex Parade to the north, Mary St to the west, Mayfield St to the east and William St to the south," a police statement issued this afternoon read.
"Residents located inside the declared area are asked to remain indoors and members of the public are asked to avoid the area."
The Headland Gardens holiday apartment block where Sikorsky is 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 tonight booked out, as the Queensland school holidays get underway.
Residents from nearby apartments have posted videos filmed through their windows of police drones hovering overhead and Special Emergency Response Team police officers crawling through yards.
Sikorsky is believed to be alone inside the unit. Sunshine Coast District Officer, Superintendent Darryl Johnson this evening told the Sunshine Coast Daily the suspect was "contained".
"We're negotiating and we're hoping we'll come out with a successful resolution," he said.
"We're hoping to resolve the situation peacefully.
"We're happy that we've got the person."
Police yesterday revealed that Sikorsky may be able to assist with their investigation into the body of a teenage girl found in a barrel on the back of a ute.
Emergency declaration for Juan Street while police negotiate with a man at Alexandra Headlands - exclusion zone bounded by Alex Parade to the north, Mary Street to the west, Mayfield Street to the east and William Street to the south. https://t.co/3kJx34Cy3p #alert pic.twitter.com/ag2mQosC7i
— Queensland Police (@QldPolice) June 29, 2018
Detectives say Sikorsky is armed and dangerous, and have warned anyone who spots him to stay away and call triple-0. He also has an extensive criminal history which includes armed robbery, deprivation of liberty and extortion offences for which he has served time in jail.
Police are looking for Sikorsky after he was believed to have fled from a property at Buccan in Logan, south of Brisbane, when they 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 Larissa 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 Sikorsy 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."
The witness, who did not wish to be named, said the man was pointing 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, who spent most of today at Logan Police Station being interviewed by detectives.
Police were called to the Stapylton complex where they found the badly decomposed body stuffed in the barrel on the ute's tray. The man was able to get away again in another car.
In a press conference yesterday, Queensland Police would not confirm the body in the barrel was that of Ms Beilby but did confirm the missing teenager was "associated" with the wanted man.
"I don't know the relationship, we know that they're associated but we don't know the exact relationship between them," Logan Detective Acting Inspector Scott Furlong told reporters.
The woman from the complex claimed the man who had offered them money was "a big white dude with tattoos everywhere".
Mr 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.
"It's hard to say whether we're looking at one person, or more persons," he told reporters.
Sikorsky is believed to be travelling in a silver 2014 Holden Commodore with a sunroof and Queensland registration 966 WKB.
Police have warned members of the public not to approach the man who they believe "has access to firearms".
"We consider him dangerous," Insp Furlong said.
Police believe Sikorsky is travelling alone in the Gold Coast and Logan areas.
Sikorsky's father 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."
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.
A Queensland Corrective Services spokesman on Friday said the department had concerns for public safety after Sikorsky breached his parole and a warrant to return him to custody was issued on March 15 this year.
"When offenders breach the conditions of their parole, if we have a concern for public safety, we recommend to the board that parole be suspended," he said.
"If the board accepts this recommendation, a return to custody warrant is issued."
Meanwhile, Queensland's deputy Opposition Leader Tim Mander said the case raises serious questions about the state's parole system.
"The person has a long, violent criminal record and is currently out on parole. In fact, he had breached parole," he told reporters on Friday. "And I think it's a reasonable question for people to ask: Why is this man out on the streets?"
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 license suspension on top of a $300 fine.
Police are investigating the discovery of a deceased person in a utility at Stapylton this afternoon. Anyone who may have seen a silver late model Holden Commodore sedan rego 966WKB please call 000.
— Queensland Police (@QldPolice) June 27, 2018
MORE >>>https://t.co/L7FAkUeCCs pic.twitter.com/tdtDCQEndj
Insp Furlong would not confirm reports that officers had found bullets and knuckle dusters in the ute Sikorsky allegedly left behind.
"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 young woman.
A QLD 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".
"She is described as caucasian, is approximately 168cm tall, of a medium build with blonde hair, hazel eyes and a nose piercing," the statement read.
"Initial investigations indicate she may be in the company of a caucasian man in his late teens."
When questioned why Queensland Police had taken more than a week to send out a release appealing for information about Ms Beilby, Mr Furlong said officers received a large number of reports.
"We get a number of missing person reports, around 130 a week. Out of respect for the family of missing persons I'm not going to go into that," he said.
On Thursday evening, Detective Superintendent Mark White told reporters that police were treating the death as a homicide and an investigation centre had been established at Logan Central police station.
"Police are still working to positively identify the deceased person located in the back of a ute in Stapylton," Insp White said.
"I'm not going to speculate on any particular aspect of it because it's at a real critical stage. "We have a lot of information that's coming in, a lot of information we're processing."
Detectives are forensically examining the ute and have started "extensive inquiries" in relation to anyone associated with it.
Insp White declined to go into detail about the person being sought over the matter.
"We don't know the identity of this person and we may not know that until tomorrow or possibly the next day," he said.
"As you can appreciate, there's a fairly intensive forensic examination that is occurring as we speak and will continue to occur possibly for the next 24 to 48 hours."
A witness told Nine News that things "just spiralled out of control" when the man fled the scene.
"I thought someone was on the run then I found out it was a body in the barrel," he said.
Another witness, Chris Anthony, saw the damaged vehicle parked strangely at the property. "The car was just there. I didn't know there was a body in there," he told the Seven network.
"The car was pretty smashed up, the glass was broken. It was pretty bad."
Resident Damien Smith told the Gold Coast Bulletin the ute had "like a burnt bonnet on it or something wrong with the front end".
"It was strange. Then all the police turn up and we're thinking, what's going on here? We don't normally find dead bodies here. There's only three or four houses here on the street."
Barrister says prosecutors focused on messages to undermine Erin Patterson's family ties.