DEAF MAN BEATEN TO DEATH DEALT IN DRUGS

A deaf man who died after being savagely beaten in his Melbourne home
last year was known to do drug deals and kept large amounts of cash
around his house, a court was told today.

Four people have been charged with the murder of Craig John Higgs, 35,
at his home in Virgilia (Virgilia) Drive, Hoppers Crossing, in
Melbourne's south-west, on December 7 last year.

Mr Higgs and his deaf wife, Sonya, 26, were attacked as they slept in
their home during a burglary.

Their three children - two girls, aged seven and five, and a
12-year-old boy - were asleep during the break-in and were unharmed.

A friend of Mrs Higgs, Edward Mitchell, of Boronia, told Melbourne
Magistrates Court today that he found a kilogram block of speed rolled
up like sliced meat in a plastic shopping bag holder in their kitchen.

He said he also found about $28,000 in cash rolled up on the top of a
cupboard in their kitchen when he was helping Mrs Higgs move out of
their house in 1999.

'I was absolutely amazed to see all these rolls lying there,' Mr
Mitchell told the court.

'She took $2,300 and she counted it.'

Some people in the close-knit deaf community knew Mr Higgs had money,
he added.

When Mr Mitchell was asked if there were rumours Mr Higgs had dealings
with amphetamines and drugs, he said: 'Yes, I knew rumours going
around about that'.

Hearing-impaired cabinetmaker Frederick Beasley, who met Mr Higgs
once, said through a sign language interpreter that the deceased was a
man who knew how to get rid of things.

'He's a dealer - drugs, whatever ... other bad things.

'Like, he's in a gang or something like that,' Mr Beasley told the
court.

Another member of the deaf community, Gemma Wyatt, said she found Mr
Higgs on his bed with blood oozing from his mouth on the night of the
robbery.

Ms Wyatt said Mr Higgs' eyes were puffed up and she put a towel under
his head, which was bleeding heavily.

Mr Higgs was taken to the Alfred Hospital, but died a couple of days
later.

Senior Sergeant Wayne Ashley, of the Melbourne forensic science
centre, said he believed Mr Higgs had been struck a minimum of three
times with one or two instruments.

Matthew James Caffery (Caffery), 18, of no fixed abode, Chelsey
Campbell, 21, formerly of Greensborough, Benjamin Douglas Masters, 20,
formerly of Boronia, and David Northern (Northern), 24, formerly of
Endeavour Hills, have all been charged with murder.

The hearing before Magistrate Peter Mealy is continuing.