Overview
- Police say 85-year-old Chris Baghsarian was taken from his North Ryde home on February 13 and his remains were found after an 11-day search near a Pitt Town golf course on February 24.
- Detectives re-arrested a 32-year-old man they allege coordinated the operation when he was taken at Lithgow on July 8 and charged him with murder and kidnapping-for-ransom offences.
- Three other recent July arrests include a 22-year-old charged with kidnap and murder and a 21-year-old and 19-year-old charged as accessories, and all three have been refused bail.
- Police say the plot was a botched ransom scheme that targeted a relative of businessman Dimitri Stepanyan and that the 32-year-old had earlier been arrested on February 23 on unrelated drug and firearms charges.
- Investigations are ongoing as detectives seek to identify alleged overseas co-conspirators and to corroborate claims about a Dural safe house, with key defendants due back in local courts around July 17.