Australia's Unsolved Nail Gun Murder:
On November 1, 2008, just after 6:00 PM, two children, aged 9-years-old and 14-years-old, were on a canoeing trip when they found the body of a 27-year-old Chinese immigrant, Chen "Anthony" Liu, in a marshland surrounding Georges River in the south of Sydney, Australia. His severely decomposed corpse was wrapped in carpet and bound with electrical wires. The children told their parents about their findings, and the police were called.
Authorities state Chen had been dead for approximately 12 days before being discovered. Investigators of Australia's Homicide Squad had been investigating the case in conjunction with the Hurstville Local Area Command, forming Strike Force Renfree. Despite this, they had few leads to make an official arrest. Officers suggest it's possible the killer worked in construction.
Post-mortem examination reports revealed Chen was shot over 30 times in the head and neck with a high-powered nail gun, firing 85mm (3.3 inches) long nails. Detectives with Strike Force Renfree believe he was murdered in a different location and driven to the marsh in his 2005 model blue Range Rover Sport 4WD. The murder weapon had never been recovered, nor has the vehicle.
Chen had migrated from China to Melbourne on a student visa in 2000. He moved to Sydney, where he married an Australian woman for a short time until they separated. He was reported missing by a friend before being discovered in the marsh two weeks later. Investigators canvassed associates of Chen; however, there was no evidence indicating that he was involved with a criminal group.
Chen "Anthony" Liu's homicide is still an active case, and after all these years, no official arrests have been made.
