Dramatic twist in case of fruit picker John Yalu accused of using a circular saw to amputate grandfather Kalman Tal’s leg

Charges against a fruit picker facing murder charges after it was alleged he used a circular saw to amputate another man’s leg have been stayed at the last minute.

John Yalu, 29, is alleged to have killed farm worker Innisfail and grandfather Kalman Tal, 66, when he removed his leg with a circular saw at 3.48am on February 19, 2022.

Mr Yalu, originally from Vanuatu, was referred to a mental health court at the request of his lawyer Michael Rodrigues at the Cairns High Court on Friday.

Judge James Henry had already disapproved of the length of the case when Mr Rodrigues requested a translator and a change of court for his client.

The Queensland Mental Health Act 2016 allows criminal proceedings to be stayed for weeks if a referral is made to the Mental Health Court.

Mr Yalu, from Vanuatu, is accused of murdering grandfather and farmer Kalman Tal (pictured), 66, by amputating his leg with a circular saw and leaving him to bleed on February 19, 2022.

The chief psychiatrist may consider suspects suspected of being of unsound mind unfit for trial before referring them to the Mental Health Court.

Police allege Mr Yalu amputated Mr Tal’s leg at the knee using a circular saw after the pair drove to Fitzgerald Park in central Innisfail, 90km south of Cairns, and sat together under a tree sit down.

Mr Tal’s body was found by pedestrians on the Fitzgerald Esplanade at 4.23am on Saturday 19 February.

Police believe Mr Tal and Mr Yalu laid out a blue tarp before the grandfather injected himself with a sedative.

As a result of an alleged $5,000 exchange, police allege that Mr. Tal brought his own battery-charged table saw for Mr. Yalu to cut off Mr. Tal’s leg at the knee.

The Queensland Mental Health Act 2016 allows cases to be stayed if referred to the Mental Health Court, which Mr Yalu’s lawyer Michael Rodrigues had done

Mr Yalu then helped Mr Tal back to his car and left shortly afterwards, with the pensioner leaving the vehicle some time later before being discovered.

Paramedics were unable to resuscitate Mr Tal, who is believed to have died of cardiac arrest due to exsanguination or bleeding.

His distraught family broke their silence to Daily Mail Australia, saying Tal was a “nice man” but had been “sick” and “desperate” before his death.

It later emerged that he was likely suffering from a condition known as ‘body integrity dysphoria’, in which the patient does not feel a psychological connection to a particular body part, but instead feels an obsessive desire to remove it.

Mr. Yalu is no longer there is in pre-trial detention and the suspension of his case can be revoked at any time on the date of pre-trial detention towards the chief psychiatrist or as soon as the mental health court makes a decision on the referred case.

One possibility is that the prosecution of Mr Yalu is dropped.