A man fatally attacked at a train station in Melbourne’s west on Saturday night was a cousin of the woman found dead at a hotel buck’s party last month.
Marcus Rowley, 24, of Epping, had returned from his cousin’s Perth funeral only three days before he was attacked at Tottenham station in West Footscray.
Australian soldier Natasha Rowley was found dead in the shower of a Melbourne serviced apartment on July 16.
As police on Monday took a 35-year-old Avondale Heights man into custody over the death, Mr Rowley’s former partner revealed the tragic family connection.
Caris Miles said Mr Rowley was a beautiful, loving father to three children.
“He was such a good person. He made his fair share of mistakes but he learned from them and was turning his life around,” she said.
Ms Miles said Mr Rowley was close to his cousin, but they didn’t see each other much because she lived in Perth.
Mr Rowley posted a picture of himself and Ms Rowley on Facebook on July 18, two days after she was found dead in the shower of a room at The Oaks on Market apartments.
The room had been rented by a group of 11 men from ACT and NSW on a buck’s night.
Ms Rowley’s funeral was held on August 1.
Four days later, Mr Rowley was killed. Paramedics were called to Ashley Street in West Footscray about 7pm on Saturday night.
When they arrived, people at the scene were trying to resuscitate Mr Rowley.
He could not be revived. A source told Fairfax Media the man had been stabbed.
They said there had been a “meeting” involving the man on one of the train platforms, but Ms Miles said the attack had been random.
Mr Rowley’s heartbroken friends remembered his cheeky face and lovely soul on Monday, as news of his death spread.
“Beautiful man, beautiful soul. Forever will you be in our hearts,” Nelly Ingram posted.
Victoria Police said on Monday that homicide squad detectives had not yet established a cause of death and were still waiting on results of an autopsy.
The arrested Avondale Heights man, of no fixed address, was charged overnight with one count of murder and will face Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday morning.
Detectives have also spoken to a 31-year-old Brunswick woman.
She was released pending further inquiries.
The accused, who was not named, did not appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday with his lawyer stating her client had psychiatric illnesses and was withdrawing from drugs.
He was remanded to January.
