Above and below - Matt with his boyfriend Michael Atkins, who was charged with his murder (but later acquitted)

MISSING PERSON

Our dear friend Matthew Leveson Is missing

Has been missing since Sunday 23 September 2007

NICK NAMES: MATT OR MATTY

DOB: 12/12/1986

AGE: 20

HEIGHT: 5 FT 7

ATHLETIC BUILD APPROX 75 KG

BLEACHED BLONDE HAIR

BLUE EYES

FAIR SKIN

LAST SEEN WEARING: BLACK SINGLET & KAHKI CARGO PANTS

LIVES IN CRONULLA/SUTHERLAND

EMPLOYED IN HURSTVILLE

Frequents the Arq Nightclub on Oxford Street, Sydney

Please pass this on to everyone you know, everyone in your address book

PLEASE!

It is still not too late. Please help us.

If anyone knows anything or has seen him please contact Miranda Police on 9541 3899 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Send your prayers and thoughts out to Matt,

His family.

Police treat man’s disappearance as suspicious – Cronulla

Police are appealing for public assistance to locate a 20-year-old man who was reported missing from Cronulla last month.

Matthew Leveson, 20, was reported missing on Tuesday 25 September by concerned relatives after he failed to arrive at his work and could not be contacted.

He was last seen in the Cronulla area on Sunday 23 September and his car was located by police on Thursday afternoon 27 September at Waratah Oval, Sutherland.

Police are appealing for anyone who might have seen his car or noticed anyone near or with the car, on that Thursday to contact police. It is described as being a green 1999 Toyota Seca hatch. Police are also seeking any witnesses who may have given someone a lift from this vicinity.

Police from Miranda Local Area Command and his relatives are concerned for his welfare as his disappearance is totally out of character. Investigators are treating Mathews’s disappearance as suspicious.

He is described as being 170 to 180cm tall, white/European in appearance, thin build with short blonde hair. He was last seen wearing light brown cargo shorts, a black singlet and white leather shoes.

Anyone who may know about Mathew’s whereabouts or who has had contact with him is asked to phone Miranda Police on 9541 3899 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Murder fears for missing gay man, 20

A YOUNG gay man who vanished after partying at one of Sydney's trendiest inner-city dance clubs is feared murdered, his friends believe.

Matt Leveson, 20, has not been seen since walking out of ARQ in Taylor Square, early on Sunday, September 23.

The wildlife welfare officer, a regular at the club, was thought to be going home to Cronulla.

His family reported him missing when he failed to show for work the following Tuesday.

Two days later Mr Leveson's green 1999 Corolla hatchback was found dumped outside a public toilet at Waratah Park Reserve, Sutherland.

Miranda Local Area Command Crime Manager Adam Barwick said police were appealing to anyone who might have seen the vehicle or noticed anyone near or with it on September 27 to come forward. Mr Leveson's older brother, Pete, said his family was unable to speak publicly, but was satisfied police were doing everything possible.

Close mate Steve Lowe, 23, said friends were struggling to come to terms with his disappearance. "I've heard the stories about him being murdered, but I can't believe the police have got it right," he said.

Mr Leveson is of European appearance, of thin to athletic build and with bleached blond hair. He was last seen wearing light brown cargo shorts, a black singlet and white leather shoes.

Mum 'sick' she knows son's alleged killer

THE mother of a young man who disappeared last year says she feels "sick in the stomach" after a man known to the family was arrested over her son's murder.

A 45-year-old Cronulla man was arrested at 7am today and police say he will soon be charged with the murder of 20-year-old Matthew Leveson, who disappeared in September last year.

Mr Leveson, also from Cronulla in Sydney's south, was last seen by his brother with a big group of friends at the popular gay nightspot ARQ in inner-city Surry Hills on September 23 last year.

He was reported missing when he did not turn up to work on September 25.

Two days later police found Mr Leveson's empty green Toyota Seca at Waratah Oval in Sutherland, just a short distance from his home.

Police said a search warrant had been executed at the Cronulla man's home and he was currently being held at Miranda Police Station where he was being questioned.

Superintendent Mark Hiron said police expected to charge the man with Mr Leveson's murder and he was likely to appear at Sutherland Local Court later this afternoon.

The arrested man was known to Mr Leveson, and to his family, something that sickened his mother Faye Leveson.

"Sick, sick to the stomach," she said when asked for her reaction to the man's arrest.

Mr Leveson's father, Mark, said the arrested man only became known to the family after his son's disappearance.

Mark Leveson said he now felt betrayed, but he would not comment further.

Accused refuses to enter court

THE lover of the missing Cronulla man Matthew Leveson, who was charged with his murder this week, was branded as cowardly by Mr Leveson's family after refusing to leave his court cell to appear in court yesterday.

Michael Peter Atkins, 45, did not enter the courtroom at Sutherland Court House when his case was heard, staying downstairs in the court cells.

"My client does not want to come up," the defence solicitor, Noel Yi Ting Tin, told the court.

Mr Leveson, 20, disappeared after leaving ARQ nightclub near Taylor Square on September 23 last year, with Atkins, his partner of almost two years.

It is not known what happened between leaving the nightclub and failing to turn up for work two days later at a Hurstville call centre, but the police investigation led to his home and his lover.

Atkins was arrested on Tuesday at the couple's flat in Tonkin Street, Cronulla, and charged with murder. On Tuesday night forensic specialists conducted a luminol test - in which an ultraviolet light is used to reveal bloodstains invisible to the naked eye - on the apartment.

The court heard that police believed Atkins murdered Mr Leveson some time on September 23, after the pair left the club. His body has never been found.

"It was a bit cowardly; we would've thought he would at least have the courage to come to court," said Mr Leveson's father, Mark.

The Leveson family set up web pages and put up posters around the Sutherland Shire and Oxford Street asking for information on Mr Leveson's disappearance.

"We miss you so much!," Faye Leveson wrote two months after her son disappeared, in a message on a MySpace page.

"We can only wonder how much Mike [Atkins] is hurting as I have not heard from him. I hope and pray [he] is coping better than we are."

Anyone with information on the case can contact Miranda police on 9541 3899.

Accused murderer sold drugs, court told

ACCUSED murderer Michael Peter Atkins was trading in the drugs ecstasy, speed, ketamine, GBH, cocaine and sleeping pills in the months before his partner disappeared.

Atkins, 46, of Tonkin Street, Cronulla, was charged last year with the murder of Matthew Leveson, 20, who has not been seen since September 23, 2007. His trial began in the Supreme Court on September 3.

The jury heard evidence yesterday from a man who traded in drugs with Atkins in 2006 and 2007.

The man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said he supplied Atkins with ecstasy about a dozen times, usually selling 100 tablets at a time.

The man said he also sold cocaine to Atkins and bought GHB, ketamine, speed and sleeping pills from him.

The man said most transactions occurred in a McDonald's restaurant car park in Blacktown but he met Atkins and Mr Leveson in the car park of Cronulla Leagues Club on one occasion.

The jury also heard on Friday from another man, Trent Nathan Scott, who said he saw Mr Leveson and Atkins counting ``up to 50'' ecstasy pills or vials of the drug GHB on a number of occasions before going to the ARQ nightclub.

He also said he had seen them counting ``several thousand dollars'' they made from selling the drugs on a number of mornings after visiting the club.

Mr Scott told the court he visited the couple near their Tonkin Street unit to buy ecstasy and would park his car near the Cronulla railway station to make the deals.

Other mutual acquaintances of Atkins and Mr Leveson told the court on Thursday of seeing Atkins partying at Sydney's Sleaze Ball just weeks after Mr Leveson disappeared.

Gregory Rogers, 20, said he first met Atkins on the Gaydar dating website in 2005 when he was 17 and began a sexual relationship with Atkins a short time later.

They dated for some time before Atkins met Mr Leveson in 2006 and began a relationship.

Mr Rogers said he saw a drug-affected Atkins at the Sleaze Ball on October 6, 2007, and the two men met in Atkins room at a Sydney Hotel the following day for sex.

Mr Leveson's father, Mark Leveson, gave evidence about two meetings he and his wife Faye Leveson had with Atkins in early 2008. Mark Leveson wore a concealed listening device during the meetings.

At one of those meetings Faye Leveson asked Atkins about attending the Sleaze Ball.

``How could you go out a week after Matthew went missing?'' Mrs Leveson asked.

Accused murderer sent lover Matthew Leveson concerned text messages, court told

A MAN accused of murdering his gay lover wrote him a series of desperate text messages asking where he was but had his victim's phone the whole time, a court has been told.

Opening the trial into the murder of Matthew Leveson, Crown Prosecutor Chris Maxwell QC said "circumstantial'' evidence like this showed Leveson's boyfriend of two years Michael Peter Atkins was responsible.

Leveson, who lived with Atkins, was 20 when he went missing after a night at his favoured nightclub, ARQ in Darlinghurst, early in the morning of Sunday September 23, 2007.

His last known contact was two text messages to a friend as he was apparently being driven home by Atkins after almost falling asleep in the nightclub about 3.30am that day.

"Mike's having a f...ing cry, he is taking me home and won't let me stay,'' Leveson wrote at 3.19am.

Mr Maxwell said that while these messages showed "conflict'' between Atkins, now 46, and Leveson, it was the messages of Atkins the following morning which showed he was responsible for Leveson's disappearance.

"I woke up and you were not in bed. Did you go out to ARQ with Luke and Paul? Just let me know where you are. Miss you. XX.''

At 5.26pm that day, Mr Maxwell said Atkins wrote: "Baby, will you please call me? What's up?''

And later still: "Baby where are you? You've got to go to work 2moz. What's up?''

Mr Maxwell said this sounded like the language of an "apparently concerned partner'' except that Leveson's mobile phone was later found in Atkins' car.

"The only problem with it is that he's got the phone,'' Mr Maxwell told the Supreme Court jury.

``He's sending these concerned text messages (but) they're going to a phone that's not with Matthew Leveson. It's with him (Atkins), and it's found in his car.''

Mr Maxwell said that when Leveson's car was later found at Waratah Oval in Sutherland, a known gay beat, it was "wiped'' of fingerprints, confirming his disappearance was "foul play''.

Furthermore, the boot of Leveson's car had been emptied of a huge subwoofer, an "important'' part of the young man's life.

"The body of Matthew Leveson at some stage have been in that boot,'' Mr Maxwell said.

The only evidence in the car was a receipt for a mattock and duct tape bought from a Bunnings hardware shop on the day of Leveson's disappearance, Mr Maxwell said.

CCTV footage from the shop showed someone "who appears to be the accused'' buying a mattock at the same time.

Atkins, who was friendly with Leveson's family during their relationship, has pleaded not guilty to his murder.

Leveson murder trial continues

The mother of missing Cronulla man Matthew Leveson, 20, who police believe was murdered two years ago by his partner Michael Peter Atkins, 45, has spoken in the Supreme Court of her "beautiful boy".

Mr Leveson was last seen leaving Sydney's ARQ nightclub on September 23, 2007 and Atkins was charged with his murder in August last year.

In her testimony yesterday Mrs Leveson told of first meeting Atkins at a family function at the Rhinedorf restaurant at Beverly Hills.

She struggled to hold back tears and rocked slowly back and forth in the witness stand as she described later meetings with Atkins, after her son disappeared, at the Tonkin Street flat he had shared with their son.

On more than one of those occasions Mr Leveson's father, Mark, had worn a concealed listening device so police could record the conversation.

Under cross-examination Mrs Leveson said her son had briefly gone mising in 2006 and she and her husband had contacted the police.

Mrs Leveson said she later learned that was when her son had met Atkins and he had spent the weekend at Atkins' flat without alerting his family where he was.

She was also questioned about reporting Mr Leveson missing in 2007 and admitted she had reacted angrily when she overheard Atkins tell a police officer Mr Leveson had been a recreational drug user.

The jury has also heard testimony from a co-worker of Mr Leveson's at a Hurstville call centre, Kerrie-Anne Waud.

Prosecutor Chris Maxwell QC led Ms Waud through a range of topics, paying particular attention to the state of Mr Leveson's relationship with Atkins.

Ms Waud testified Mr Leveson had told her Atkins was pressuring him to "pick up boys" for group sex, something Mr Leveson said he did not want to do, and that Atkins had been physically aggressive towards him.

She spoke of Mr Leveson's plans to travel to London and of ongoing friction in his relationship that he confided to her a number of times.

During cross-examination this morning, Ms Waud’s testimony about Mr Leveson’s use of two mobile phones was seized upon by the defence to attack a central argument Mr Maxwell had advanced in his opening address to the jury.

Mr Maxwell had told the jury Atkins sent four texts to Leveson’s Samsung mobile phone the day after he went missing.

That phone was later found in Atkins’ car and Mr Maxwell suggested Atkins had the phone all along and sent the texts as a ruse.

Under cross examination Ms Waud said Mr Leveson used two phones, a Samsung with a number ending in 975 and a Nokia with a number ending in 285.

In the days after Mr Leveson disappeared, Ms Waud called both numbers and spoke to Atkins about them.

Ms Waud’s statement to police on September 28 said Atkins had told her not to call the Samsung because it was at his flat.

No blood found in missing man's car.

Police couldn't find a trace of blood in the car of missing Cronulla man Matthew Leveson a court has heard.

Leveson, 20, was last seen on September 23, 2007 and his boyfriend Michael Peter Atkins, 46, is on trial for his murder in the Supreme Court.

The jury heard testimony today from one of the officers who examined Mr Leveson's Corolla hatchback, which was found abandoned at Waratah Oval at Sutherland four days after Mr Leveson disappeared.

The officer said the seats and boot of the car were tested for traces of blood but none was found.

Prosecutor Chris Maxwell QC had suggested to the jury in his opening address that Atkins had used Mr Leveson's car to transport his body.

Mr Maxwell suggested Atkins removed a speaker box from the boot of the car to make room for the body.

Earlier in the day the court heard Atkins was trading in the drugs ecstasy, speed, ketamine, GHB, cocaine and sleeping pills in the months before Mr Leveson disappeared.

The jury heard evidence yesterday from a man who traded in drugs with Atkins in 2006 and 2007.

The man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said he had supplied Atkins with ecstasy about a dozen times, usually selling 100 tablets at a time.

The court previously heard evidence from a number of witnesses who testified Atkins and Mr Leveson would then on-sell the drugs in Sydney’s ARQ nightclub.

The man supplying Atkins with the ecstasy tablets said he had also sold cocaine to Atkins and bought GHB, ketamine, speed and sleeping pills from him.

The man said most meetings between him and Atkins to deal in drugs were held in a McDonald’s car park in Blacktown but they had met in the car park of Cronulla Leagues Club on one occasion.

On Friday the jury heard from another man, Trent Nathan Scott, who was a friend of Atkins and Mr Leveson and who said he had seen the men counting ''thousands of dollars'' made from selling drugs.

Mr Scott said he was part of a group of friends who would meet at a unit in Alexandria most weekends in 2006 and 2007 before going to the ARQ nightclub.

Under questioning from prosecutor Chris Maxwell QC , Mr Scott said he had seen Mr Leveson and Atkins counting "up to 50" ecstasy pills or vials of the drug GHB on a number of occasions before going to the club.

He also said he had seen them counting money made from selling the drugs, ''several thousand dollars'' on a number of mornings after a visit to the club.

Mr Scott told the court he had visited the couple near their Tonkin Street unit to buy ecstasy and would park his car near Cronulla railway station to make the deals.

On Thursday other mutual acquaintances of Atkins and Mr Leveson told of seeing Atkins partying at Sydney's Sleaze Ball just weeks after Mr Leveson disappeared.

Gregory Rogers, 20, said he had first met Atkins on the Gaydar dating website in 2005 when he, Rogers, was 17 and began a sexual relationship with Atkins shortly afterward.

Mr Rogers and Atkins dated for some time before Atkins met and began a relationship in 2006 with Mr Leveson, who was 19 at the time.

Mr Rogers said he saw a drug-affected Atkins at the Sleaze Ball on October 6, 2007, and the two men met in Atkins’ room at a Sydney Hotel the next day for sex.

Mr Leveson’s father, Mark Leveson, gave evidence about two meetings he and his wife Faye Leveson had with Atkins in early 2008.

Mr Leveson wore a concealed listening device on both occasions and edited transcripts from the recordings it made were read in court.

Faye Leveson told Atkins she had read on the internet he had been at the Sleaze Ball with a man named Chris.

''I was there,'' Atkins told her and confirmed he attended with a man named Chris but not as a couple.

''How could you go out a week after Matthew went missing?'' Mrs Leveson asked.

Michael Atkins not guilty of Leveson murder

A SYDNEY man has been found not guilty of murdering his much younger boyfriend, whose body has never been found.

Michael Peter Atkins, 46, had denied murdering Matthew Leveson, 20, with whom he shared a unit in Cronulla in Sydney's south.

A New South Wales Supreme Court jury also found Mr Atkins not guilty of the alternative charge of manslaughter.

Leveson went missing some time after 3.30am on Sunday, September 23, 2007, after the couple went to the gay club ARQ.

"It is the Crown case he is dead and further that it is the accused Michael Atkins who killed him," prosecutor Chris Maxwell QC told the jury during the trial.

The jurors at the trial, before Justice Peter Hidden, retired on Monday, October 12, but did not deliberate on Friday.

The verdict was delivered this afternoon following the trial which began on September 3.

Matthew Leveson, 20, was last seen leaving a Sydney nightclub in the inner city suburb of Surry Hills on September 23, 2007 about 2am. He left with his then boyfriend Michael Peter Atkins.

Since his disappearance more than four years ago Matthew's father Mark Leveson has spent countless nights searching for the body of his son under a full moon, which he believes would have been the light available to the killer as he attempts to retrace their steps.

Mr Leveson says he believes his son's remains may be lying somewhere in Sydney's Royal National Park.

"There is nothing definite to say his body is even there," Mr Leveson said. "But we've got to start somewhere," Mr Leveson, told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Matthew Leveson was reported missing by family on September 25 when he failed to arrive at work and could not be contacted.

His last known contact was a text message to a friend at 3.30am on the day he was last seen alive. the message read: "He needs to f...en get over himself," and was referring to Mr Atkins.

Police found his abandoned car two days later on September 27 at Waratah Oval, Sutherland.

Despite an extensive investigation police have never found Mr Leveson's body or determined the circumstances surrounding his disappearance, which was considered out of character.

In 2008 Atkins was charged with his murder but was acquitted by a jury and sentenced for the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Mr Leveson is described as being of Caucasian appearance, about 175cm tall, of thin build, and with short blond hair.

He was last seen wearing light-brown cargo shorts, a black singlet and white leather shoes.

Disappearance of Matthew Leveson

NSW Police are renewing their appeal for information into the 2007 disappearance, and believed murder, of a 20-year-old Sydney man.

Matthew Leveson, from Cronulla in Sydney’s south, was reported missing on Tuesday 25 September 2007 by concerned relatives after he failed to arrive at his work and could not be contacted.

He was last seen leaving a nightclub at Surry Hills about 2am on Sunday 23 September. Police then located his abandoned car on Thursday 27 September at Waratah Oval, Sutherland.

Detectives attached to Miranda Local Area Command were notified and launched an exhaustive investigation into his disappearance, which was considered suspicious almost immediately as it was completely out of character.

Despite extensive searches, Matthew’s body has never been located and police have been unable to determine the circumstances surrounding his disappearance.

In 2008, Miranda Police charged a man with murder, however, he was acquitted at trial and the investigation continues.

The renewed appeal comes as the NSW Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Michael Gallacher, announces a $100,000 reward for information leading to the discovery of Matthew’s body.

Detective Inspector Rohan Cramsie, Crime Manager of Miranda Local Area Command, said despite extensive investigations, police have so far been unable to determine what exactly happened to Matthew.

“There is a person, or people, out there who knows what happened to Matt. We’re again appealing for them to come forward with information that will allow the Leveson family closure and the ability to bury their son.

“There are a lot of unanswered questions, and, to this date investigating officers have been unable to determine what happened to Matthew. Hopefully this reward will give them the encouragement needed to come forward,” he said.

Matthew is described as being of Caucasian appearance, about 175cm tall, of thin build, and with short blond hair. He was last seen wearing light-brown cargo shorts, a black singlet and white leather shoes.

Anyone with information that may assist investigators is urged to contact Miranda Police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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