Inside Queensland’s leg amputation: How night of alleged murder unfolded

At 3am last Saturday, the temperature was still a balmy 25C down on Fitzgerald Esplanade, Innisfail, which runs by a park on the banks of the town’s crocodile-infested Johnstone River.

The heat wasn’t unusual for the consistently humid north Queensland town, but what was about to unfold there less than a week ago was.

Innisfail retiree Kalman Tal, who had been living in a southeastern Innisfail suburb for around two years, was in Fitzgerald Park allegedly in the company of Vanuatuan fruit picker, John Yalu.

The two men knew each other from around Innisfail, and according to reports, had met once before earlier that night, prior to the alleged proposal that had brought them both down to the darkened riverbank.