Homicide detectives extradited a 26-year-old suspect from Poland to Sydney Airport on Friday, charging him with murder over the 2023 death of 22-year-old Darcy Schafer-Turner, whose body was discovered inside a metal cabinet floating in a New South Wales creek.
State Crime Command detectives launched Strike Force Etruscan after police investigating the alleged supply of drugs in Caringbah uncovered connections to a missing Peakhurst man when the inquiry commenced in March 2023. Detectives from the State Crime Command’s Homicide Squad established Strike Force Etruscan to track the missing person case. On May 12 that year, officers searching Warrell Creek at Macksville found the man’s body concealed inside a large metal cabinet.
Strike Force Etruscan and the International Arrest in Poland
Ongoing inquiries tied a 26-year-old suspect to the killing after he travelled overseas. Australian officers flew to Poland on September 18 to coordinate extradition proceedings with local authorities and national law enforcement partners. The suspect touched down at Sydney International Airport at about 6pm on Friday in the company of homicide detectives, as reported by Nine.
Police took the man directly to Mascot Police Station, where officers charged him with murder. He was refused bail ahead of a scheduled court appearance on Saturday.
Earlier Sentences and Court Proceedings in the Peakhurst Investigation
The latest arrest follows legal proceedings against other individuals linked to the case. Two other men, aged 22 and 33, faced charges over their involvement in the alleged murder, with their matters since finalised in court. Following a guilty plea regarding the manslaughter of Schafer-Turner—who attended school with him and was a close friend at a Peakhurst unit—Zachary Richard Fraser was sentenced to 6½ years in prison in 2025.
Court evidence showed that Fraser taped the victim’s mouth shut while another attacker held Schafer-Turner in a chokehold over a suspected debt. Investigators learned that Fraser believed Schafer-Turner owed the second man $50,000. Although one of the attackers attempted resuscitation after Schafer-Turner lost consciousness and suffocated, neither called emergency services.
Bunnings Purchases and the Disposal in Warrell Creek
Following the killing, a Queensland father named Charles Dennis Turnbull was paid $20,000 to clean up the crime scene and dispose of the body. Closed-circuit television footage from Bunnings captured Turnbull purchasing cable ties and a large metal cabinet before traveling to Port Macquarie, where he bought a boat to dump the victim’s body in Warrell Creek at Macksville.
Detectives discovered the remains weeks later, tying the location to the Caringbah drug supply investigation and Schafer-Turner’s disappearance. With the extradition of the 26-year-old suspect from Poland, police have now taken action against three individuals allegedly involved in the homicide.