The parents of a young festival-goer who was found dead with a hunting knife in his chest and his scalp separated from his body have revealed a new theory behind his death.
The body of Jackson Stacker, 26, was found under a tree 120 meters from the Sleepy Hollow rest stop, 25 minutes north of Byron Bay, on August 25, 2021 with an 18cm hunting knife sunk on the chest.
Although his scalp and dreadlocks were more than 10 meters away, police treated the death as a suicide.
But in an interview with 60 Minutes on Sunday night, his grieving parents Sandey MacFarlane and Ian Stacker argue that the conclusion doesn’t “make sense” and raises the possibility of something much more sinister.
‘Nothing made sense. I spoke to him the last day he was alive and he was fine,” Mrs MacFarlane said.
“We just realized there are other possibilities of what could have happened here,” Ian said.
In an interview with 60 Minutes on Sunday night, grieving parents Sandey MacFarlane and Ian Stacker (pictured) argue that a police conclusion into their son’s death “doesn’t make sense” and raise the possibility of something much more sinister .
There is a disturbing theory behind how Jackson Stacker (pictured) died, whose body was found badly decomposed under a tree on August 25, 2021.
‘We think that perhaps he got involved, on this occasion, with someone from drug trafficking who had left some things in his truck.
‘You know, Jackson left that place prematurely and left behind some people he transported there.
—Just like they found your van. I was totally destroyed. You know, it was like he was strip-searched.
Ian and Sandey believe Jackson’s ransacked van suggests evidence of foul play.
“Everything was very violent. “The van is not only dirty, it was destroyed,” added Ms MacFarlane.
If he was panicking, he wouldn’t want a confrontation and I think he was running away.
The van was found at the Sleepy Hollow rest stop, 120 meters from where Jackson’s body was discovered.
Jackson had traveled to idyllic Byron Bay in New South Wales from Melbourne, living in a van and partying with friends.
“Everything was very violent. “The van is not only in disarray, it was destroyed,” added MacFarlane (pictured: Jackson’s van).
In a message to Sandey, he said he hung out with “beautiful” and “intelligent” people.
But his parents suspect that something changed in the last month of his life and he may have been murdered.
“I think he felt used by certain people who were borrowing his truck,” Sandey said.
Friends told the program that he had consumed LSD and marijuana…
Cousin Ishtar Kenny said she had heard about “things happening in Byron”.
“I’ve heard about different things that have happened in Byron over the last few years, where all the young people have been very scared because they’ve been involved in something,” he said.
‘They didn’t realize what it was and then they threatened them or things like that. So I know it can happen in that area as well.”
Jackson Stacker was traveling in his Toyota Hiace pickup truck (pictured) since 2020
Stacker’s mother, Sandey MacFarlane, insists her son did not take his own life and says there was no history of suicide or poor mental health in her family.
Sandey and Ian believe Jackson may have escaped a confrontation and that’s why he ended up in the paddock.
Jackson’s phone was never found in the initial investigation, but in a notable moment, 60 Minutes revealed that its producer stumbled upon a phone at the scene, within sight of where Jackson’s body was found, during his own investigation into the history.
It is not yet known who the phone belongs to.
Jackson had a Samsung phone, his parents said, and a week after his death he restarted 200 kilometers further south, near Grafton.
Over the next four days it connected to several cell towers, before returning to the Byron area where it stopped pinging on August 2.
In their investigation, police discovered that Jackson suffered from mood swings and displayed erratic behavior.
Jackson also smoked marijuana and took LSD, which had affected the young man emotionally.
Jackson had also been hospitalized in the past, treated for drug-fueled psychosis after bad reactions to mind-altering substances, 60 Minutes revealed.
Former homicide detective Gary Jubelin evaluated the case and believes investigators did a thorough job investigating Jackson’s death.
“Having worked in homicide for so long, it’s such a difficult area that comes with a lot of emotions,” he said.
‘It’s not something you can observe, um, clinically and separate the emotions. There is emotion involved.
“And looking at the steps that police have taken during the course of this investigation, I think from a very early stage, they viewed it as a possible homicide.”
A coroner’s findings on the manner and cause of Jackson’s death are expected in the coming weeks.
Tragic deaths and disappearances in and around Byron Bay
Theo Hayez
Theo, an 18-year-old Belgian backpacker, disappeared after a night out at Cheeky Monkeys nightclub in May 2019.
He was not reported missing for five days.
In June 2020, Hayez’s cousin Lisa revealed that Google data had tracked him walking through dense bush on the night of his disappearance, and suggested he could not have done it alone.
The strongest theory about Mr Hayez’s disappearance remains that the backpacker fell off a cliff and was swept out to sea.
Théo Hayez disappeared from Byron Bay on May 31, 2019 and has not been seen since.
Teresa Liddle
Liddle, 42, was last seen in the Mooball area, between Byron Bay and Tweed Heads, in October 2019.
The former microbiologist was homeless in Byron Bay and living a transient lifestyle before her death.
Police came across his remains in July 2020 while searching for Hayez.
Liddle, 42, was last seen in the Mooball area, between Byron Bay and Tweed Heads, in October 2019.
Erwan Ferrieux and Hugo Palmer
Erwan Ferrieux and his British friend Hugo Palmer, both 20, were reported missing during the holiday of a lifetime in 2019.
Police feared they had drowned in Port Macquarie after their belongings were found in the sand at Shelly Beach.
In June 2019, two human bones turned up, and forensic tests revealed that they are likely those of Mr Ferrieux.
Mr Palmer’s femur bone was discovered in the sea by a spearfisherman and DNA testing revealed it belonged to him.
Hugo Palmer (left) and Erwan Ferrieux (right) disappeared while on sabbatical in Australia.