A MAN who chopped up his long-time friend and buried his body parts in a freezer has been jailed for life.
Bobby Andrew Weaver, 31, pretended 58-year-old David Thornton was still alive for weeks after he murdered him in cold blood.
Bobby Andrew Weaver has been sentenced to life in prison for the grim murder of his friend Credit: Facebook
David Thornton’s dismembered body was found in a fridge in his own garden Credit: Queensland Police Service
David was reported missing to his family in Ipswich, Australia, on March 12, 2019.
Whilst searching his property weeks later, cops uncovered a grim scene.
One of two freezers found under the dirt in his back garden contained his heavily decomposed and dismembered body.
David had been shot twice in the head before his legs were severed below the knees, according to an autopsy.
Weaver was arrested days later in Byron Bay and extradited to Queensland.
The sick killer was sentenced to life in prison for murder at Brisbane Supreme Court on Monday.
Justice Paul Smith said: “This is a case where it can clearly be determined you murdered a friend in cold blood.”
Weaver grew up on the same street as David in the Ipswich suburb of Goodna and was considered a lifelong friend.
Cops discovered the fridge containing David’s body parts more than two months after he was reported missing Credit: Queensland Police Service
Brisbane Supreme Court where Weaver was sentenced to life in prison on Monday Credit: Alamy
Former school maths teacher David was last seen alive on January 25, 2019, after leaving a solicitor’s office.
He was carrying $15,000 in cash related to a property settlement at the time.
The court was told how Weaver used David’s Facebook account and mobile phone for weeks after his death to send messages to his family.
He claimed he was “off grid” in Western Australia in a twisted campaign of deception to delay their concerns.
Weaver also stole $30,000 from his victim which he used to buy a motorbike, the court heard.
Cops eventually became suspicious when David’s ex-wife found bloodstaining the walls of his property during a visit.
When interviewed, Weaver insisted he had been communicating with David.
He also claimed that a fridge buried in David’s garden contained rotten food and even helped to dig up one to bolster his story.
But his ploy was foiled when witnesses told cops that two freezers had been buried.
After the second freezer was uncovered, David’s body and the saw used to dismember it were found.
Police also found a “sludge” underneath the house which contained blood, bodily fluids and tissue linked to David.
The court also heard that while in prison Weaver tried to recruit another inmate to kill one of David’s daughters and stage it as a suicide.
The inmate handed police handwritten notes from Weaver detailing the plot.
Justice Smith said: “The treatment of the body is disgraceful. It was premeditated.”
Weaver will be eligible for parole in 2039.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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