Queensland man to be charged with murder after carer’s body found

A warrant for a Queensland man has been issued over the alleged murder of his carer at a home in Buccan, south of Brisbane, earlier this week.

Brisbane artist Velvet Pesu, 46, was found dead at Wael Abdallah Saleem Alfar’s home on Waterford Tamborine Road in Buccan, Logan, about 2.30am on Monday.

Her family reported her missing about 1am on Monday after she had not been seen since about 7pm on Saturday.

Alfar, 36, was not at the property when police found Pesu’s body.

Officers tracked him to northern NSW, and police from that state attempted to stop him near Coffs Harbour about 3pm Monday local time.

He allegedly refused to pull over, and a high-speed chase continued about 80 kilometres through Valla, Nambucca Heads, Macksville, Warrell Creek and Eungai Creek.

The 36-year-old crashed into a culvert at Stuarts Point Road in Yarrahapinni, where he was arrested. He was taken to Kempsey Police Station and charged with offences relating to the pursuit.

He has been remanded in custody in NSW until February 25 for sentencing for those traffic matters.

Queensland Police have now said they will seek his extradition back to Queensland once the NSW court matters have been finalised. An arrest warrant for the offence of murder has been issued.

Pesu has a significant online following and played at several major venues and events across the region including the Woodford Folk Festival.

“Velvet describes her art and life as inseparable,” a professional profile said.

“Her work seeks to provide a glimpse into the incomplete and ephemeral nature of human experience, and aims to magnify that beauty within society that is often unnoticed.”

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