Deceased
Matthew John Leveson
Demographics
20y, male
Date of death
2007-09-23
Finding date
2017-12-05
Cause of death
Undetermined - evidence does not support a finding as to cause of death
AI-generated summary
Matthew John Leveson, a 20-year-old gay man, died on 23 September 2007 in Sydney while in a de facto relationship with Michael Atkins, who was 25 years his senior. Leveson disappeared after leaving the ARQ nightclub early with Atkins. Atkins initially told numerous lies to police and maintained he did not know what happened to Leveson. After a jury acquitted Atkins of murder in 2009, the inquest resumed. In 2016, Atkins finally provided an induced statement to police indicating where Leveson's body was buried in Royal National Park, Waterfall. Forensic examination of Leveson's remains could not determine cause of death—no clear anatomical injury was found, and toxicological testing could not confirm drug overdose due to decomposition. The coroner found strong suspicion regarding Atkins' involvement based on his extensive lies, but insufficient evidence to determine the manner and cause of death. The coroner made open findings and commended Leveson's parents for their crucial role in the investigation.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Specialties
Sudden Unexplained Death of an Infant (SUDI) in an unsafe sleeping environment; …
Three Aboriginal infants died in unsafe co-sleeping environments in the Northern Territory. Baby K (3 months), Baby B (2 months), and Baby S (5 weeks) all died from sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) associated wi…
28y · Male·In keeping with Hanging
A 28-year-old man with a history of depression, anxiety, and previous self-harm died by hanging during a police response to a domestic violence incident. Police attended after his sister reported he had breached an ADVO …
25y · Male·Combined drug toxicity
Harrison William Ladd, 25, died from combined drug toxicity involving clonazepam, dexamphetamine, codeine, diazepam and pholcodine. He had complex mental health and substance use disorder requiring specialist addiction c…
Source and disclaimer
This page reproduces or summarises information from publicly available findings published by Australian coroners' courts. Coronial is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any coronial court or government body.
Content may be incomplete, reformatted, or summarised. All court orders for redaction and non-publication are respected; documents with technically defective redaction have been excluded from the database entirely. Always refer to the original court publication for the authoritative record.
Copyright in original materials remains with the relevant government jurisdiction. AI-generated summaries and tagging are for educational purposes only, may contain inaccuracies, and must not be treated as legal documents. We welcome feedback for correction —