Sef Gonzales lived with his parents and younger sister in the upper-middle class north west Sydney suburb of North Ryde. In mid-2004, a local real estate agency posted a ‘for sale’ sign on the front lawn of the vacant family home. By that time, the Gonzales family had been gone for three years, the lack of interest resulting in the asking price being lowered in the hopes of tempting a buyer. When a family expressed interest in the home, they offered $800,000. It was a significant bargain given many similar homes in the area sold for over a million. The sales contract was quickly drafted and signed, with the excited new owners paying their deposit A SOLD sticker firmly planted on the sale sign out the front of the property prompted local news outlets to report on the purchase. Upon reading a local newspaper, the new owners were horrified to learn of the events that had once taken place in their new home…
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