Man arrested over murder of partner after nationwide manhunt

A 72-year-old man has been dramatically arrested on Sydney’s outskirts in connection with the murder of his partner almost three decades ago.

Keith Lees was a wanted man over the death of his then 25-year-old girlfriend Meaghan Louise Rose, whose body was found at the base of cliffs at Mooloolaba on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast in 1997.

Rose worked in the disability and aged care sector and was considering going back to study before her death, which was initially treated as a suicide.

On the last day she was seen alive, she had gone to the Maroochydore RSL with Lees. Lees was 19 years Rose’s senior when they were together.

The case was reopened and treated as a potential homicide in 2009; and in 2023, detectives tracked Lees to a property in Victoria to talk to him about the case. He gave officers a false name, and one day later he fled – his car found abandoned.

Lees was again found in Port Fairy, where he gave officers a fake name. He was then spotted at a shopping centre in Waurn Ponds, Geelong, buying clothes, and was seen leaving a railway station in Shepparton on June 27.

Despite Lees being caught on CCTV footage, police were unable to locate him.

Queensland Police issued an arrest warrant for Lees and offered a $500,000 reward for any information leading to his arrest. Police believed he might have been travelling the country looking for farm or fruit-picking work.

NSW Police officers finally tracked Lees down to a property on Kenthurst Road, Dural, in Sydney’s north-west, at 8am on Thursday.

When officers took him into custody, police allege he bit an officer on the arm.

Lees was taken to Hornsby police station, where he was charged with assaulting a police officer (without aggravated bodily harm), dealing with identity information to commit an indictable offence and possessing identity information to commit an indictable offence.

He cannot be charged with murder in NSW, and Queensland homicide detectives have travelled to Sydney to apply for his extradition.

Lees was refused bail to appear at Parramatta Local Court on Friday. His Legal Aid lawyer made no application for bail and it was formally refused.

He was still apprehended at Surry Hills police station and did not appear on the court’s audiovisual screen.

Hornsby Local Court will hear the extradition hearing on January 9, alongside his warrant, assault and identity charges.

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