For nearly 27 years, the family of Meaghan Rose have been trying to prove she was murdered. Now, the ABC can reveal fresh details about her suspected killer.
Police allege Lees — Meaghan’s then-partner — had taken out a life insurance policy in her name before her suspected murder.
There was a 13-month waiting period on payouts for deaths by suicide. Meaghan died shortly after that set term ended, and Lees claimed a $203,000 benefit.
After Meaghan’s death, Lees and his child returned home to Victoria and in 2000, the pair moved in with recently-separated father-of-two Barry Waters.
Mr Waters, 42, was reported missing in 2001 and his headless body was discovered dumped in bushland near the Yarra Ranges the following year.
Lees was convicted of killing Mr Waters in 2004 following a secret affair with his wife, according to court documents.
He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, with a non-parole period of 16 years.
Fast forward to June 25, 2023, when Queensland detectives went to a property in Victoria to speak to him about the case.
The next day, his vehicle was found abandoned in the town of Portland and an arrest warrant was issued, as Victorian authorities launched a search and rescue operation.
Lees has now been missing for nine months, but police believe he is still alive and may be “hiding out” on farms or fruit picking in rural and regional Australia, Detective Sergeant Johns says.
Lees’s child, Wren Dawsong, made an extraordinary plea for their father to surrender to police last year, saying “Meaghan’s family deserve justice”.
Dawsong was living with the pair at the time Meaghan died.
“He’s not doing himself any favours by running and hiding so it’s time. He’s got to man up and turn himself in,” Dawsong said.
Anyone who sees Lees is asked not to approach him and to immediately call triple-0.