Cassius Turvey: Detective Stephen Cleal praises ‘marathon’ WA Police effort at high-profile trial’s end

The homicide detective who led the investigation into the murder of 15-year-old Cassius Turvey expressed his relief at the two guilty verdicts, describing the result one of the highlights of his career. In an emotional press conference outside WA Police Headquarters on Thursday afternoon, Detective Senior Sergeant Stephen Cleal praised the dozens of officers involved in the mammoth probe into the death of the Noongar-Yamatji boy over the past two-and-a-half years. “This was a very complex investigation, from the start it had many working parts to it,” he told journalists just hours after the a WA Supreme Court jury handed down its verdict in the high-profile trial. “This was definitely a marathon effort. I’m very proud of homicide squad, the team that work with me and the outside help from all of WAPOL. “We had assistance from Midland detectives, forensics, digital crime. If I tried to list them all, I’m not going to be able to.” Det-Sen Sgt Cleal also applauded Cassius’s family, who he said he couldn’t have been more proud of. “It was a very long, tiring trial,” he said. “And I just want to take this time to give them my empathy, and just want to say that I’m so proud of how they’ve handled this, from the investigation when it started, from meeting me for the first time and getting through this tragedy, and going through a extensive, 13-week Supreme Court trial. “I’m very, very proud of the family and and how they’ve handled themselves. “I’m also very proud of the kids that gave evidence in this trial. It was very tough for them. Some of them are doing it tough having to relive the tragedy of what they saw and what they witnessed. They had five of the most experienced defence barristers in the State going at them and I just want to say ‘I’m proud of you and you did very well’.” Detective Senior Sergeant Stephen Cleal said he hoped Thursday’s verdicts could provide some kind of healing for Cassius’s family. “Cassius was completely incident of all the events that led up to this terrible tragedy. As he was innocent of the tragedy — the incidents that unfolded that that terrible day. This was not his fault,” he said. Cassius’s mother Mechelle Turvey, who has previously revealed she considers the detective as a brother now, had only words of praise for the detective, as well as WA Police as a whole. “To to spoken of and thought of highly, after all the highs and lows that I’ve been through (throughout my career), I’ve been the bearer of bad news, and so...,” Detective Senior Sergeant Stephen Cleal said before he was overcome by emotion. “It makes me feel very, very happy to to represent a family through a tragedy like this. “I’ve had the privilege of dealing, particularly lately . . . of working on some big jobs. This is certainly one of the highlights for me.” In recalling the “powerful” moment the verdicts were delivered, Det-Senior Sgt Cleal said he’d asked Mrs Turvey how she was feeling, to which the grieving mother responded: “I feel light”. “There is a sense of relief. (But) we have the sentencing to come,” he said. “As part of the healing, they’ve got a long way to go, but this certainly helps.”