Hypnosis, carrying a dummy, drawing maps: Measures cops took to jog Atkins' memory
The inquest into the death of Sydney man Matthew Leveson has heard startling evidence about the extraordinary measures police took to jog his lover’s memory to find the body.
The 20-year-old's boyfriend Michael Atkins was hypnotised, and even carried a dummy, the same size and weight as Mr Leveson, into the bush to help pinpoint the grave site.
Atkins told police he and Mr Leveson left ARQ nightclub after a fight in 2007. At home Atkins fell asleep and woke to find his boyfriend dead.
He saw a bottle of the drug GHB and assumed Mr Leveson had overdosed.
NSW Police Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin told the inquest: "He describes sitting with Matt for a while, comprehending what had taken place."
“He had concerns about his reputation. He was the older partner of a younger male, he had only recently come out as a homosexual.”
Det Insp Jubelin said Atkins also went with police in 2016 to the Royal National Park site in Sydney's south where he thought he parked a car before disposing of Mr Leveson's body and dumping his car at a gay hangout.
'You're no longer of use to our family alive': Levesons on Michael Atkins
What bones find in Leveson search may mean for boyfriend Atkins
Atkins described the hole he dug for Mr Leveson as two-metres long, one-metre wide and 800 millimetres deep, Det Chief Insp Jubelin told the inquest into the Sydney man's death on Wednesday.
However, when they initially failed to find any remains, police suggested alternative nearby sites to Atkins and had him try hypnosis.
Through hypnosis, he was asked to draw diagrams of the grave site, walking him into the bush at night, getting him to carry a 70kg mannequin, even convincing the Levesons to lend Atkins their dead son's car.
Atkins was still confident about the initial search site, and Det Chief Insp Jubelin said it was there on May 31 this year where police found the 20-year-old's remains.
Mr Leveson's bones were found, but the man who led police to them won't be charged.
Matthew's mother Faye wept, hearing testimony about the night her son died.
"He had him in the unit with him for hours, and didn't even call Triple-0,” Mrs Leveson said.
“If you can believe what he says - and I don't!"
She and husband Mark learned more about the police interview with Michael Atkins, the man who cut an immunity deal to reveal Mr Leveson's gravesite.
A tragic accident, Atkins said, proving otherwise, all but impossible.
Mark Leveson said: "He can't just be allowed to go home now. It’s just not right, not right at all.
“What I'd like to see happen is at least make him face the court and be present while we give our closing addresses."
Mrs Leveson added: "He knows what happened to Matt. I don't believe what he said happened to Matt."
At one point the coroner asked Matthew's brother, "Jason, can I ask that you take your hat off?"
He replied, "Can I ask that you put a man in jail?"
The closure of this inquest will bring a small degree of relief after so many years for Mark and Faye Leveson, but they are braced for an open finding, and no more.
They know their son is dead and that Atkins knows how, and why.
