Footy star and former Newcastle Knights talent found dead in prison after his life spiralled out of control following double family tragedy

A former soccer star has been pronounced dead after being found unconscious in his prison cell this week.

Lui Matalio Dylan (Dee) Tialeaiga, 30, was discovered in a single cell at Maryborough Correctional Center and taken to hospital by the Queensland Ambulance Service on Wednesday before being pronounced dead.

Once considered a prodigious talent and on the books of the Newcastle Knights, Tialeaiga turned to crime in her mid-20s after a double family tragedy. He had previously escaped custody in Rockhampton.

“Our condolences go out to the man’s family and friends,” a spokesman for the center said Thursday evening.

The Gold Coast Bulletin reports that Tialeaiga died of natural causes.

During his trial, Tialeaiga’s attorney, Jordan Ahlstrand, explained that the defendant’s life spiraled out of control following the death of his grandfather in May 2019 and his sister, who died of cancer, in July.

Tialeaiga hadn’t touched drugs or alcohol since he was eighteen, but things changed after the double tragedy.

He was convicted after committing a crime and was high on methamphetamines at the time.

Six cars were damaged and charges included possession of a home-made hand gun, stealing a car, unlawfully operating a motor vehicle, dangerously operating a motor vehicle that caused damage, aggravated assault, theft with personal force, evading from the police and once for possession of ammunition.

The former football star spent time in three different prisons after his arrest.

The police were so scared of Tialeaiga that they went to arrest him, they approached him in a group of seven and all the officers were armed with tasers.

But that couldn’t stop the 30-year-old.

Three normal tasers were used, but they didn’t work, so a stronger, more powerful taser was used to apprehend him.

He was previously convicted of an angry outburst on the road against a 64-year-old driver after the victim’s car drove back into Tialeaiga’s. He pulled the victim out of the car and kicked and punched him many times in the head and upper body.

Tialeaiga also escaped police custody while being treated at Rockhampton Hospital. He was not spotted by the police until he stole a ute parked south of Gladstone.