A convicted sex offender who was jailed for brutally assaulting an elderly lady in her own home has allegedly been murdered in bushland north of Perth.
Zailn Jahson Hayward, 27, was found dead on a gravel walking track at Yanchep at about 6.40pm on Sunday, and was understood to have been sleeping rough in the area for several months.
Videos posted by Hayward on his social media accounts appear to show him living in a squalid makeshift camp in the bush with rubbish strewn all around.
Western Australia Police have not revealed how Hayward died, but Warren Robert Collard, 30, from Rivervale, was charged with his murder on Wednesday and faced Joondalup Magistrates Court on Thursday where he did not enter a plea and was remanded in custody.
Hayward was due to face the same court later this month charged with methamphetamine possession and trespassing, and had a long history of crime and drug abuse, The West Australian reported.
He was previously jailed for just three-and-a-half years for breaking into the home of his elderly neighbour in Balga in 2020 while naked, pinning her down, indecently assaulting her and punching her in the face as she screamed for help, all while out on bail for multiple offences.
The 81-year-old’s deaf and blind husband was asleep in another room at the time, and the attack left her bruised and traumatised.
He weighed 110kg at the time and was caught because he cut himself breaking in through the toilet window, and left behind blood and fingerprints.
Hayward’s 2022 trial heard he had a seven-page criminal history including convictions for exposing himself to women, and had a “pattern of obscene acts in public”.
In sentencing Judge Troy Sweeney called the offending “unsophisticated” and “particularly foolish” due to how close Hayward lived to his victim, but she also said it appeared Hayward was suffering from some kind of “psychological difficulty”.
Header image: Left, right, Zailn Jahson Hayward (Facebook).
