Australian police charged an Indonesian-born man on Wednesday over the murder of a driver for the Malaysian consulate who was beaten with a hammer and stabbed outside his Sydney home.
Police in Australia charge man over Malaysian murder
Police originally thought the attack on Mohd Shah Saemin, 43, who died in inner-city Leichhardt late on Sunday, stemmed from a road rage incident moments earlier.
But Indonesian-born Hazairin Iskandar, 55, whose wife had reportedly worked with Saemin, was arrested Wednesday and charged with his murder, police said. Officers were still hunting a second man involved in the assault.
Malaysian-born Saemin had recently become an Australian citizen, and worked as a driver for the Malaysian consul general, Mohd Nasir Abu Hassan.
Hassan described his driver as a "extremely nice" man, who was quiet, composed and humble.
The attack prompted Malaysia's foreign minister to call for a thorough police investigation to ensure the incident was "a genuine road rage case and not a case of race-biased hate crime".
