The former private schoolboy accused of the brutal stabbing murder of a 21-year-old was an award-winning student and footballer whose good looks made him popular with girls.
At Queensland’s prestigious $6,860-a-year Ipswich Grammar, Haedyn Rawson won a reading prize, played football and Australian Rules – and in 2017 took a trip to London with his classmates, where he posed in front of the iconic gates of Buckingham Palace.
The 23-year-old, now a heavily tattooed construction worker, is accused of using a kitchen knife to stab Will Swinbourne on Hope Island on Queensland’s Gold Coast.
Police allege Rawson stabbed Mr Swinbourne following an alleged botched drug deal in a vehicle in the Gold Coast Radiology Clinic car park at 2.15pm on Monday.
Mr. Rawson had been drinking at the Boardwalk Tavern next to the clinic prior to an alleged planned meeting with Mr. Swinbourne, police say.
The pair are said to have met two days earlier through mutual friends at British DJ Fred Again’s concert the previous Saturday evening at The Spit on the Gold Coast.
Haedyn Rawson was an award-winning, footy-playing private schoolboy, but on Monday he found himself in a forensic police jumpsuit, accused of the violent stabbing murder of another man
Haedyn Rawson in this photo was a sweet-faced schoolboy from his days at the prestigious Ipswich Grammar, where he had many friends and enjoyed friendships with girls
On Monday, after a lengthy manhunt in a gated community on lockdown, police arrested Haedyn Rawson and placed him in a forensic jumpsuit for his transfer to a holding cell.
On Monday afternoon, accounting student Will Swinbourne was found with life-threatening injuries in the parking lot on Santa Barbara Road on Hope Island, sparking a three-and-a-half-hour manhunt.
Police allege Mr Rawson fled on foot through a golf course on the nearby Sanctuary Cove estate, forcing the gated community into lockdown as officers combed through streets, waterways and golf courses.
He was eventually found in a cul-de-sac at around 6pm when police handcuffed him and dressed him in a blue forensic jumpsuit before taking him into custody in a police van.
Another 23-year-old man from Surfers Paradise who had been drinking with Rawson at the tavern was arrested at 4.45pm but was later released without charge.
Haedyn Patrick Zachary Rawson appeared in the Southport Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday morning charged with murder and has not entered a plea or applied for bail.
Haedyn Rawson is alleged to have stabbed 21-year-old Will Swinbourne (pictured) in the car park below Gold Coast Radiology on Hope Island at around 2.15pm on Monday.
Police take Mr Rawson to a van after handcuffing him following a long manhunt through the gated community and golf course of Sanctuary Cove
Most recently, Mr. Rawson worked as a construction foreman at a construction company not far from his home.
Mr Rawson lived on Redbank Plains, just a 20-minute drive from his old school Ipswich Grammar, reportedly with his parents.
He remains friends with his old classmates on social media, but images of him in recent years show an increase in visible tattoos on his arm and neck.
Tributes have been paid to Mr Swinbourne, who studied at Griffith University and whose girlfriend Kaysie Tooth shared a loving message on social media.
“I love you to the moon and back, in this life and the next and beyond,” she wrote alongside a photo of the couple sharing a kiss. “Forever looking at pictures of you, my love.”
Police describe the grim speed at which the fatal encounter allegedly occurred.
Haedyn Rawson played football and AFL while studying at the elite Ipswich Grammar and had kept in touch with his school friends while working in the construction industry
‘It happened very quickly. My understanding is that the victim has only just arrived and the incident has occurred,” Detective Inspector Mark Mooney claimed.
“We believe the altercation started in the car and … at some point he got out because he was found on the ground.”
Mr Swinbourne’s football team, Mudgeeraba Red Backs Rugby League Club, where he played for about 12 years, described him as a ‘very loyal kid, loyal to the club, loyal to his friends’.
Mr Rawson will return to court later this month.