The truth about young Australian baker whose Snapchat date ended in tragedy after he was allegedly lured by teen gang: ‘He just wanted to find love’

Friends of a Sunshine Coast man allegedly lured into a deadly ambush after believing he was meeting a woman for a date say he was a kind-hearted man who simply wanted to find love.

Oliver Conroy, 27, was allegedly beaten by a group of teenagers aged between 14 and 17 as one of the accused filmed the attack before they stole his car.

The young baker from Kiels Mountain on the Sunshine Coast drove to Brisbane’s inner north on July 24 after allegedly communicating with a girl on Snapchat and agreeing to pay for sex.

Instead, a group of teenagers allegedly lay in wait, intending to rob him.

Mr Conroy arrived and parked his $64,000 BYD Shark 6 in the Kelvin Grove State College staff carpark before the group allegedly launched a brutal attack.

He was punched and kicked in the head, while one of the teenagers allegedly filmed the attack on a mobile phone as another yelled: ‘Just get the money.’

He was left on the street with serious injuries before neighbours found him and he was taken to Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.

Mr Conroy died two weeks later, on August 6.

Heartbroken friend Bells told the Daily Mail that Mr Conroy desperately wanted a relationship, which was why she believed he may have fallen victim to the alleged trap. 

‘He loved adventures, he loved everyone and the big thing about Oli is that he wanted to find love and that’s ultimately why this has happened to him,’ she said.

‘He is a really, really sweet guy and he just really wanted to zing with someone and start that next chapter in his life.

‘He worked full time, he was a baker, he loved his job, he loved cooking and loved the thought of making someone food and them enjoying it.

‘He wasn’t one to party or do anything like that. He was very by the book and did everything accordingly; what normal members of society should do.

‘That was him. And you could tell he just wanted to be with someone that he cared about.’

Seven teenagers aged between 14 and 17 – including two girls aged 14 and 15 – were charged over Mr Conroy’s murder. 

It is alleged one of the teens told a passer-by they were on their way to ‘bash a paedophile’ before the incident, which has since fuelled online conspiracy theories that the set-up may have been part of a ‘catch a predator’ vigilante attack.

However, police allege the girls told Conroy they were 18 years old.

‘That’s not my mate. He would not have been aware of their real age,’ Bells said.

‘I find it crazy they are trying to say that it was a “catch a predator” scheme, trying to defame my good mate and trying to attack his character, even after he has died.

‘These kids have gone online and acted as if they were over the age of 18.’

After the alleged attack, Mr Conroy grabbed onto his car by the driver’s side in a vain attempt to stop them taking it.

Police allege Mr Conroy was dragged by the vehicle for nearly one kilometre while the teen driver accelerated and braked sharply in an attempt to make him lose his grip. 

In falling from the vehicle, Conroy was run over by the rear wheels. 

Mr Conroy, who worked at Bakers Delight for several years, had only recently purchased the car.

He proudly posted photographs of the vehicle to Instagram in February, showing it parked in his driveway and in a public car park at night. 

‘He really loved his car and taking it out on adventures,’ Bells said. 

Another friend told the Daily Mail she understood why he would have taken such a risk to try to stop the theft of his car, as he had worked hard to save for the vehicle.

‘He would have put up a fight for the truck, I know he would have,’ she said.

Mr Conroy did not post often on social media and had only started his Instagram account eight months ago.

Along with the photos of his car, he also shared photos from a recent holiday to Vietnam with his mother, Margaret Conroy, as well as a heartfelt tribute to her on Mother’s Day.

‘Oli could be a little bit shy, but ultimately a heart of gold and really outgoing to everyone he knew and loved. He is an amazing man, and he did not deserve this,’ Bells said. 

The teenagers face life sentences under the controversial ‘adult crime, adult time’ laws introduced by Queensland’s Liberal National government.

The 14-year-old and 15-year-old girls are the first female juveniles in Queensland to be charged with murder under the laws.

On Monday, representatives for the Queensland Police Service applied to Brisbane Children’s Court for DNA samples to be taken from six of the accused after all but one of them refused to consent.

Police in Queensland do not currently have powers to take DNA samples from children without consent unless the child is accused of an indictable offence, such as murder, and police obtain an order from the court.

The controversial policy came under fire just weeks ago when Queensland Police Union president Shane Prior declared that, if a young offender was old enough to become a serial offender, they were old enough to have their DNA collected.

‘We just want the disparity between adult and juvenile offenders in this state removed when it comes to DNA collection,’ Mr Prior said.

However, Magistrate Lewis Shillito adjourned the DNA applications to August 31 after raising a number of concerns with the police’s written application.

Defence lawyer Alex Jones, representing a 16-year-old boy accused of murder, pointed to several alleged inaccuracies in the police application relating to his client, including an incorrect address. 

He said the technical issues placed ‘question marks’ over the reliability of the police application as a whole.