Vanuatuan fruit picker John Yalu accused of amputating Kalman Tal's leg with ... trends now
A Vanuatuan fruit picker charged with murder after amputating a Queensland grandfather's leg with a circular power saw has been ordered to face a Cairns court.
John Yalu has spent the last two years in prison since the mutilated body of much-loved pensioner Kalman Tal was found bleeding to death outside a fish and chip shop in Innisfail, 90km south of Cairns.
Mr Tal, 66, was discovered by passers-by around 4.23am on Saturday, February 19, 2022 with his leg amputated at the knee in a park near the waterfront of the town's Johnston River.
Paramedics could not revive Mr Tal who is believed to have died from cardiac arrest due to exsanguination or bleeding out.
Police quickly arrested then 36-year-old John Yalu, a banana picker living in migrant accommodation at his nearby boarding house which overlooks the riverbank.
They alleged that at 3.48am on the same morning, Mr Tal had driven the seasonal worker in his car down to Fitzgerald Park, laid out a blue tarpaulin and injected himself with a sedative.
As a result of an alleged exchange of $5000, police claim Mr Tal brought his own battery-charged table saw for Mr Yalu to cut off Mr Tal’s leg at the knee.
Mr Yalu then helped Mt Tal back to his car and left soon afterwards, with the pensioner then leaving the vehicle some time later and being discovered by two brothers who were walking past the Innisfail Seafood shop.
Migrant fruit picker John Yalu (above), who is charged with murder after he allegedly severed the leg of pensioner Kalman Tal with a power saw, was due for arraignment in the Cairns Supreme Court on Thursday
Kalman Tal (above with his daughter-in-law) was a much-loved pensioner around Innisfail before his death
Mr Yalu's subsequent arrest caused a storm among the local population of seasonal workers.
Two days later, Vanuatu's High Commissioner to Australia Samson Vilvil Fare flew in from Canberra to Innisfail for an urgent crisis meeting with around 300 highly emotional Vanuatuans, traumatised that a co-worker was charged with murder and behind bars.
Mr Tal's distraught family broke their silence to Daily Mail Australia, saying Mr Tal was a 'lovely man' but had been 'ill' and 'desperate' prior to his death.
It later emerged that he had been likely suffering from a condition known as 'body integrity dysphoria' in which the sufferer does not feel a psychological connection with a particular body part, and feels an obsessive desire to remove it.
The accused has been on remand inside Lotus Glen Correctional Centre west of Cairns, his practice of sending his wages home to his wife and three children ending with his arrest.
On Thursday, Mr Yalu was due to appear before Justice James Henry to enter a formal plea, which his lawyer said last month would be 'not guilty'.
Solicitor Michael Rodriguez told the judge last month that he had consulted a forensic psychologist to assess Mr Yalu's fitness to plead, and that any plea would have to be with the aid of an interpreter in the Bismali Vanuatu language.
Fitzgerald Park (above), on the banks of Innisfail's crocodile-infested Johnstone River, where police allege migrant worker John Yalu amputated the leg of retiree Kalman Tal with a power saw
Police believe Kalman Tal (above) brought his own battery-charged table saw to the park where his leg was amputated at the knee leading to catastrophic blood loss and death
A frustrated Justice Henry expressed his annoyance at further dragging out of the matter that first came before the courts in February 2022, the Cairns Post reported.
