A 21-year-old man found dead by the side of a road after a night out in Broome 16 years ago was likely bashed to death with a weapon, a coroner has found.

Exactly who killed Josh Warneke has remained an enduring mystery since the man jailed for his killing, Gene Gibson, was acquitted on appeal.

While the coroner Ros Fogliani found Mr Warneke was likely murdered, she was unable to identify the person responsible.

Josh was described as a happy and easy going. (user submitted)

Mr Warneke had been drinking with friends at various bars around in the northern Western Australian tourist town on the night of February 25, 2010.

He was last seen alive on CCTV footage at the local McDonald’s drive-through.

His badly bruised body was found by the side of Old Broome Road shortly after 3am on February 26.

Publishing her findings on Monday afternoon, Ms Fogliani found Mr Warneke had been murdered, having suffered a fatal head injury that was the “result of blunt force trauma with a weapon”.

She said she would report her findings to the Department of Public Prosecutions for further investigation, opening the possibility of a new police probe into his death.

Mr Warneke’s mother Ingrid Bishop told the ABC her 16-year-wait for answers was not good enough.

“It’s a very sad day actually,” she said.

“To have waited 16 years for something that should have happened in the first couple of years is just diabolical, quite frankly.”

Ingrid Bishop says her 16-year wait for answers is not good enough. (ABC Kimberley: Dunja Karagic)

While welcoming the insights into her son’s murder, she said the “completely bungled” investigation by WA Police had made things incredibly difficult. 

“The evidence that is left has been very powerful,” she said.

“But it’s just very disappointing that an institution that’s actual brief is to identify and protect the forensics was just so careless and reckless.”

But Ms Bishop said she remained hopeful the person responsible would be identified in future.

“It’s been 16 years, and it may be another 16 years, but I’m not going away,” she said.

Police investigation criticised

Mr Warneke’s death and the lack of answers over what happened that night shocked the local community, with Ms Bishop publicly calling for answers and keeping the case in the spotlight ever since.

A botched police investigation saw Mr Gibson charged with his murder and the Kiwirrkurra man spent almost five years in prison before his conviction was overturned in 2017.

Gene Gibson in Kiwirrkurra, his home community, in the Gibson desert near the WA/NT border. (Supplied: Kiwirrkurra CSM)

He was later awarded $1.3 million compensation, while police officers involved in his arrest were lambasted in a Corruption and Crime Commission inquiry.

Ms Fogliani was scathing of the police investigations finding not enough resources had been allocated to the case.

Police resourcing was “not to the level that would have been applied in the metropolitan area and, as the investigation became protracted, there was no evident resourcing strategy”.

A photo of Josh circulated by police at the time of his death. (Supplied: WA Police)

She said forensics had not been called to the scene at the time Mr Warneke’s body was discovered and samples were not taken for testing.

Officers had also moved his body and covered it in an unsterile sheet, actions which “risked the forensic preservation of the scene and forensic evidence”.

And a series of black marks on Mr Warneke’s forearm were not recognised by officers as being relevant to the case, so samples were not taken “and evidence of them was not preserved.”

Over the years, it had been suggested Mr Warneke may have died after being hit by a car, but Ms Fogliani found there was not enough evidence to support this.

Mystery at heart of young tradie’s death probed

It’s been 14 years since the body of 21-year-old apprentice Josh Warneke was discovered by a Broome roadside, and a long-awaited inquest into his death has now wrapped up.

There was no evidence of his body being thrown any distance, no gravel injuries, scuffs or debris on his body, and “no real indications that he was dragged, displaced or tumbled after being hit”.

Any suggestion the 21-year-old’s state of intoxication had played a role in his death was also ruled out.

Ms Fogliani made a number of adverse findings, including that police did not have systems in place to adequately investigate regional crimes, that forensic examinations were not properly carried out, and that officers were not adequately trained in interviewing Indigenous people from remote communities, especially when language and substance abuse difficulties were present.

In part because of systemic police failings, Ms Fogliani declined to make adverse findings against individual officers, observing that she did not want to risk “conflating the coronial investigation with a [WA Police] disciplinary proceeding”.

Ms Fogliani’s recommendations included better police training and availability of interpreters when interviewing Indigenous people from remote communities, better guidance on preserving forensic evidence and a review of training and guidance for regional police.

Josh Warneke’s mother Ingrid Bishop is comforted by a police officer at the site his body was found.

She acknowledged Mr Warneke’s mother’s ongoing efforts to get justice for her son and to find out what happened to him, noting that she had “shown courage and tenacity throughout her long and dignified search for the truth”.

“Ms Bishop has described, in moving terms, her loving memories of Josh,” the coroner said.

“It is my hope, and expectation, that all efforts continue to be made to find out what happened.”

A WA Police spokesperson said the force acknowledged the coroner’s findings and was reviewing whether additional changes were necessary.

“Since [2010], WA Police Force training and practices have changed significantly,” the spokesperson said.

“Investigators remain committed to finding answers for the loved ones, family and friends of Joshua.”

Ingrid Bishop has been fighting for justice for her son.  (ABC News: David Weber)

Speaking to the ABC in 2020, a decade after her son’s death, Ms Bishop spoke of her frustrations with the courts and police.

“It’s as if the whole judicial system is impenetrable to people like me,” she said.

“But what they don’t realise is we have more tenacity and resilience than they think.”

A two-week inquest into Mr Warneke’s death was held in September 2024, with hearings in both Broome and Perth.

It heard from 30 witnesses, including people who had seen him on the night he died, police and taxi drivers.