A man has been charged with murder following the shock discovery of a woman’s body in Sydney’s west on Sunday.
Officers attached to Nepean Police Area Command were called to a reserve off Irwin Street at Werrington about 1.15pm on Sunday following the discovery of a 47-year-old woman’s body.
On Monday night, NSW Police said a man was arrested in connection to the case.
He was taken to Windsor Police Station, where he has since been charged with murder.
‘Following extensive inquiries, officers arrested a man – also aged 47 – at a home on Powell Street, Hobartville, about 6pm on Monday,’ a police spokesperson said.
He was refused bail to appear before Penrith Local Court on Tuesday.
The woman has since been identified as Leanne Akrap, who was last seen a week ago by her neighbours.
Police said the man who was arrested was known to Ms Akrap, but the two were not in a domestic relationship.
A woman’s body was found at a reserve in Werrington, in west Sydney
Police cordoned off the the scene and canvassed the area
The area where she was found – a secluded area near a sports field and a unit block – was previously sealed off and forensic experts sent in to analyse the scene.
‘A crime scene has been established and an investigation has commenced by Nepean detectives, who are being assisted by the State Crime Command’s Homicide Squad,’ police said.
A canvass of the area was done by local police who were assisted by PolAir.
Nepean Police Area Commander, Detective Superintendent Trent King said a number of belongings were found near the woman.
‘Other clothing items and rubbish,’ he told a press conference on Sunday evening.
‘At this stage I’ve been informed that it was a woman. Potentially a middle-aged woman, but that’s still part of the investigation.’
The body was discovered by a passerby who saw the remains from a distance and called Triple Zero.
‘It’s a remote part of the reserve which backs onto sporting fields on one side and there is residential areas on the other,’ Supt. King said.
‘That’s where we will be concentrating our canvassing this afternoon and this evening to try and ascertain movements as well as anything untoward over the last period of time.’
Leanne Arkap is understood to be the woman whose body was found
On Sunday, police said they could not confirm how the woman had died
The body was spotted in the distance by a passerby who called Triple-Zero
Police had said it was unclear how long the body was at the reserve or how she died.
‘Certainly a period of time, very difficult to ascertain at this stage. The scene is currently being examined,’ Supt. King said.
‘We’re hoping certainly in the next couple of days through both the postmortem examination as well as the examination today we will have further information.
‘Until we identify the cause of death, the death is unexplained. Certainly in this circumstance we feel it necessary to take it to the highest level (of investigation).’
The investigation continues under Strike Force Dowerin.
