Dead Koorda man had dark past

A man who died in a fight in Koorda yesterday had been convicted over the shooting of two Coffin Cheater bikie gang associates at a Bunbury nightspot in February 2002.

A 64-year-old Koorda man has been charged with murder over the death of bikie associate Gavin John McMaster in the Wheatbelt town.

Police said McMaster, a former Rebel bikie, knew the man charged with his death.

Two days after he started an eight-year sentence over the shooting, another inmate set fire to McMaster in the education centre at Casuarina Prison.

A convicted armed robber confessed to setting McMaster on fire, saying the attack was provoked by a drug debt.

But there were strong suggestions that McMaster was set on fire because he wanted to quit the Rebels shortly after the Bunbury shooting.

The attack left McMaster with burns to up to 60 per cent of his body.