Police believe a man found dead in a housefire was murdered. Major Crime detectives revealed they're now investigating if the 72-year-old victim was targeted because of his links to the illicit drug trade.
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00:00Police leave a Woodville Gardens house as they gather evidence about the death of resident Bill Frangus.
00:08We're satisfied that Bill was murdered and the house was set on fire to deliberately destroy evidence related to that murder.
00:15Emergency services were called by a passerby to a fire at the home at 3 Essex Street just after 4am yesterday morning.
00:22Mr Frangus' body was found inside. Police believe petrol had been ignited inside the property and a jerry can set alight.
00:30We believe that the people or persons who were responsible may have been known to Bill.
00:37Investigators have spoken to a number of people in relation to the murder and are considering potential links to the illicit drug trade.
00:44Police say items used to cultivate cannabis have been removed from Mr Frangus' home and another property next door.
00:51Detectives say he also had an historical involvement in the drug trade.
00:56There is some information that cannabis was involved in respect to this incident and we're making follow up enquiries in respect to that.
01:05It's not clear how the killer or killers entered the property but Mr Frangus had a large guard dog in his backyard which was unharmed in the fire.
01:13Police say they've received helpful information from the local community where the 72 year old was well known.
01:20Please help the family find answers to what has occurred in the early hours of Thursday morning.
01:26They're calling on anyone who may have CCTV or dash cam footage to contact them.