A man acquitted seven years ago for the murder of his then-boyfriend has led police to his possible grave site in rugged bushland south of Sydney after being granted immunity from prosecution.
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In a sensational development in a long-running case, the inquest into Matthew Leveson's disappearance nine years ago was adjourned on Thursday.
Police are now searching a location in the Royal National Park, not far from where Mr Leveson lived before he disappeared in 2007, for the 20-year-old man's body.
Officers have been led there by his former partner, Michael Atkins, who was found not guilty of the murder and manslaughter of Mr Leveson following a trial in 2009.
It is understood that Mr Atkins led police to that spot in the early hours of Thursday but no remains have so far been found.
The search comes after Mr Atkins was compelled to give evidence at the coronial inquest last week but had been granted immunity from prosecution for any admissions he might have made.
Family's long legal battle
Mr Leveson's body has never been found and his parents have long hoped their son's inquest would finally help them find the location where he was buried.
Over the years the family has spent countless hours searching parts of the Royal National Park for Mr Leveson's body.
The 20-year-old was last seen leaving the Arq Nightclub in Darlinghurst on September 23, 2007.
Mr Atkins, 53, lost a legal battle this year to avoid being compelled to give evidence at the inquest into his partner's disappearance.
Last week he spent five days in the witness stand, answering dozens of questions about his final moments with Mr Leveson.
He was also quizzed on why he bought a mattock - a pickaxe-style digging tool - and tape from Bunnings on the day after Mr Leveson was last seen.
Mr Atkins suggested he was an aspiring green thumb, despite not having a garden.
During one dramatic and unusual point in his evidence, he was handed a mattock and asked to demonstrate what he would do with it.
Mr Atkins was also handed tape and tomato plants and was asked to demonstrate how he planned to connect his own seedlings to stakes, as he claimed was his intention for the tape.
"What else are mattocks used for?" counsel assisting the coroner Lester Fernandez, asked last week.
"That's all I thought ... digging up gardens," Mr Atkins responded.
"Digging a grave would you agree?" Mr Fernandez continued.
"Could be."
"Somewhere like the national park down south where you live, agreed?" Mr Fernandez said.
"Could be anywhere."
