Bodybuilder and Sydney father may have known each other before fatal home invasion
Investigators are trying to determine whether a bodybuilder who died during a Sydney home invasion knew the man who lived there.
Bradley Soper died on Sunday morning after he entered a Harrington Park house and was confronted by home owner Johan Schwartz, whose wife and child were upstairs.
When Mr Soper became unconscious during the struggle, Mr Schwartz frantically called police saying “come quickly… he’s unconscious, call me back now, quickly”.
Neighbours attempted to revive Mr Soper before paramedics arrived, however he couldn’t be saved.
Detectives are now investigating whether the 35-year-old personal trainer and international strongman competitor worked out at the same Fitness First on Bond Street in the CBD as Mr Schwartz, a 44-year-old business analyst, according to the Daily Telegraph.
“One of the lines of inquiry we’re looking into is if the two men are known to each other,” a police source told the publication.
Another trainer suggested the pair would “know each other by sight for sure”.
The new line of inquiries comes after it was revealed Mr Soper had just gone through a messy breakup with his long-term girlfriend Kaisha Gambell.
The Bringelly resident had also spent some time in hospital for kidney failure in the weeks leading up to his death. The ABC reports the personal trainer “had been struggling with money and a cocaine addiction”.
As the investigation into his death continues, those closest to Mr Soper are still trying to understand what led him to do something that they say was “so out of character”.
Fellow personal trainer Peter Tsikas described him as “a big teddy bear” that always looked after everyone else first.
“He’s big and strong but he always loved people, so that’s what doesn’t seem right,” Mr Tsikas told the ABC.
“It doesn’t make sense and that’s why we’re trying to put the pieces together, because we don’t know what’s happening — it just doesn’t seem right.”
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