People you meet along the way - Episode Seven - The Cambridge Park murder

A murder in a suburb stuns the community as Stephen John Green, a known criminal, is brutally killed by Charles Edward Sales. Sales confesses to the crime during police questioning, detailing the violent attack and how he disposed of Green's body. Detectives later discover the body in a remote area, resulting in Sales' arrest and murder charge. The case underscores the importance of information in crime-solving.

Transcript

1:17

A forgotten murder and most foul that shattered a suburb. This is the fact sheet presented to pent local court in July, 1988. All murders are brutal. The killing of Stephen John Green in the Penworth suburb of Cambridge Park in March, 1988 must rank as one of the most callous determined and brutal crimes committed in that city's criminal history. Green ranked with Penrith police at the time as a small time crim, a drug user and dealer with a string of offenses for dishonesty against his name in the local drug and crime milieu. Green had also a reputation as an enforcer and standover man. In June, 1988. Local detectives including then armed Holdups squad, detective Martin Killen. Now a well established and successful lawyer received information that a man had been beaten to death in a home in Cam Street at Cambridge Park on or about March 22nd, 1988. His body removed and buried elsewhere. Killen and his team launched widespread inquiries among locals and informants during the operation. They received information that the scene of the crime in Camp Street had been occupied at the time by one John PCard. Further inquiries uncovered postcard's dealings with green, and his association with another well-known drug user and dealer. Charles Edward Sales. In a fact sheet presented to Penrith local court Kon detail the circumstances leading to the identification of the suspect. On the morning of July 7th, 1988, sales was arrested at the Penrith snooker room where he'd slept the night in the lady's toilet. The court heard Killen described how sales had been taken to Penrith Police station for questioning about the murder of green. During this time, he admitted his involvement in the murder. In an eight page record of interview, the court heard details of the killings as presented to the court. Described the horrific torture and death of 25-year-old green. It says, prior to the murder, sales was at a friend's house at Kingswood. When John POSCO knocked at the door, POSCO Toal, that green was at Scot's house and had been hassling them. The pair went at the house at 30 Cam Street, Cambridge Park Sail was armed himself with something like a piece of wood, and then approached green. It was lying asleep on the lounge room. Floor. Sales stated that he armed himself because green always carried a gun or a knife. It will be alleged that the lump of wood was in fact a cricket bat. Sales then woke green who went for a bag. Sales then struck a blow with the cricket bat to the head of green. However, it did not render green. Unconscious sales then struck a number of blows to the head of green just to quieten him down while sales was attempting to tie green's, arms and legs. Sales stated in the record of interview, the green was screaming out a real lot. So I tried to get a hanky or a bit of rag that was there just to put down his mouth, but he was biting my fingers a couple of times. So there was a toolbox in the lounge. So I got a screwdriver and tried to put the rag in his mouth with the screwdriver. Sales further stated that while he was doing this, he slipped and it went in too far. So I pulled it out. Sail stated that green was making all these noises, and it seemed to me like he was going black, like he was dead. So I gave him mouth to mouth and there was no heartbeat. But I brought him round for about 10 minutes. Sales. Then went into the kitchen where he had a drink of beer because he was panicking about what happened. Sales and POSCO then returned to the lounge room where they saw that green was dead. They decided to take green away, so they wrapped his body in a round rug on which he was lying. The body was then placed in the boot of postcard's car, and they drove to the builtin area where they disposed of the body of Stephen John Green. So stated, he had known green for about nine months prior to the murder, and the green had had a bad reputation as a standover of a man and a ripoff man directed by sales. Detective drove to the Bel Line Road to Bilpin, to a truck stop where it's kill, and told the court sail directed them to a bush track and indicated a rough graveside where they located the body of Steven John Green, partially decomposed with part of the corpse covered with hydrated lime. The detectives returned sales to Penrith Police Station when he was charged with murder as detective superintendent Arnie Tees, who also followed a long and distinguished police career by being admitted to the bar in New South Wales is a barrister once quoted. No crime is ever solved unless someone somewhere tells someone something. Case closed, water comes.