Three Men Sentenced to Life in Prison for 2016 Toolbox Murders in Queensland

The crime scene

Three men have been sentenced to life imprisonment for the brutal 2016 murders of Cory Breton and Iuliana Triscaru, whose bodies were found inside a metal toolbox submerged in a Queensland dam.

Trent Thrupp, Stou Daniels, and Davy Taiao were handed life sentences in the Brisbane Supreme Court, one week after being convicted of the killings in a retrial. Under Queensland law, the trio will serve a minimum of 30 years before becoming eligible for parole due to the case involving multiple murder victims.

Cory Breton

The three men had previously been convicted of murder and torture in 2021. However, Australia's Court of Appeal granted a retrial in 2023, resulting in the renewed convictions.

The victims, Breton and Triscaru, were allegedly lured to a unit in Kingston, south of Brisbane, where they were beaten and tortured over a suspected drug-related dispute. Prosecutors said the pair was then forced into a 6.5-foot-long metal toolbox by Daniels and Taiao. The box was later driven to Scrubby Creek in Logan, Queensland, and dumped in the water. Thrupp is believed to have either submerged the toolbox himself or been present when it was done.

The toolbox was retrieved by police two weeks later. Breton and Triscaru’s bodies were found in an advanced state of decomposition. Medical evidence indicated they likely drowned, as they were still alive when the toolbox was submerged.

Iuliana Triscaru

The court heard emotional victim impact statements from family members of the deceased. Miranda Parkinson, partner of Cory Breton, said, “For nine and a half years, we have not been able to say goodbye properly. We have not been able to mourn because every time we have to relive that tale.”

Triscaru's family described the retrial as a renewed trauma. “To relive every horrific detail, every moment of fear and despair … is an injustice that compounds our initial grief,” they said.

Eight people in total have faced charges in connection to the double murder. Several others received sentences for lesser manslaughter charges. Tuhirangi-Thomas Tahiata, who drove the toolbox to Scrubby Creek, was also sentenced to life in prison.