A coroner has ruled Wayne Bruce Campbell died shortly after he was seen on CCTV footage outside his Warrawong home in August 2022. Photo: NSW Police.
Heavy metal icon and Warrawong resident Wayne Campbell disappeared three years ago – now a coroner has reached a verdict about what happened to him.
The 57-year-old had suffered from mental and physical health issues for some time when he disappeared from out the front of his Warrawong unit complex in August 2022.
Before that however, Wayne was a successful musician – his clothes were part of a display at the Powerhouse Museum.
Born in Sydney in 1965, the court heard Wayne was adopted at a young age.
He was raised in Croydon Park and left school at a young age to work for Sydney Rail.
In the 1980s he formed thrash metal band Mortal Sin and in 1989 they supported Metallica on their first tour of Australia.
The band went on to split and reform a number of times over the following decades and Wayne remained heavily involved in the music industry.
In 1995 he met his long-time partner, and they went on to have a son and a daughter, before they separated in 2006.
The court heard that in 2000 Wayne was badly injured in an assault and as a result of a head injury he suffered frequent migraines that affected his ability to function.
Wayne also suffered from epilepsy, hypotension, arthritis, gout, hernia and lung nodules. The court heard he drank most days at the Open Hearth Hotel in Warrawong, where he was considered a polite and well-respected regular.
He also regularly smoked cannabis and cigarettes, and had to be hospitalised for drug-induced psychosis and major depression with psychosis in 2018 and again in 2021.
The court heard Wayne got in touch with the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) to let them know he would not be able to pay his rent, as he was about to be cut off from Centrelink for not attending appointments.
Wayne intended to meet with a DCJ representative to make arrangements, however he didn’t show.
He was cut off from Centrelink on 4 August 2022. Days later he was fined at a train station for not holding a ticket.
On 18 August Wayne withdrew a small amount of money from an ATM.
On Saturday 20 August he was seen outside his home on CCTV footage behaving erratically at 11:16 pm.
He was never seen again.
No activity has been registered on his bank account, passport, Centrelink or Medicare since.
A police search of his home found nothing missing or out of place.
Officials in other states have no record of him travelling outside NSW, the court heard.
Despite several searches of local bushland, no trace of Wayne has been found.
His son, Bruce, told the court he could not believe Wayne would go three years without contacting his family if he was still alive.
Moreover, he said Mortal Sin’s recent reunion and the death of Ozzy Osbourne would have brought Wayne back into contact with his friends.
“If neither of these events brought Dad into communication with anyone it’s my solemn belief he has passed away,” Bruce said.
“It’s my belief there was suspicious intent; I just can’t shake the feeling. He’s not the kind of person who would just wander off and not come back.
“We were never close, but in Australia he was considered an icon.
“He paved the way for a lot of young Australian aspiring musicians and mentored them as well.
“I want to thank the detectives and everyone involved in the search.”
Coroner Carmel Forbes found, based on the evidence, Wayne had died shortly after he was last seen on CCTV footage outside his home.
She said there was no evidence to establish the cause, circumstances or place of his death, although she accepted that police did not believe there were any suspicious circumstances.
Congratulations Michael. The relationship between Dapto High and Dapto Red Cross benefits both… View