New details on the man accused of Brisbane's grisly murder-suicide.

By SHAUNA ANDERSON

Warning: this post deals with a horrific murder and a suicide and may be very distressing for some readers.

UPDATE: 

Marcus Volke, who allegedly murdered and dismembered his wife Mayang Prasetyo in their Brisbane apartment, had worked as a male sex worker prior to his death.

Volke was a sex worker in Copenhagen, Denmark, and then worked for a time in a Melbourne brothel alongside his late wife, the Courier Mail reports.

He advertised himself in Denmark as, “Young sexy Australian boy, very friendly and easy going, discreet and professional”, the Courier Mail reports.

It was originally reported the pair met on an international cruise ship while Volke was working as a chef, but a friend of the couple has since told the Daily Mail Australia he had never been a chef.

The couple had covered up their secret because of “the life they were leading”, the friend said.

Previously, Mamamia wrote…

It is a crime almost too hard to comprehend.

Headlines that belong in works of fiction, or in movies.

A crime too shocking to read about, one that makes our mind shut down a little as we struggle to take in the reality that this happened here, in Australia, in Brisbane.

A murder so horrifying that we simply can’t go into all the details – those are for the police, the forensic analysts, the coroner.

What we do know is that a young woman was killed, dismembered and cooked allegedly by her husband – a Brisbane chef – late last week.

Whether you want to know more about this gruesome crime is up to each reader – the details are out there in the media.

We choose not to shed any more light on them.

What is important to know though is her name – and one day we may even know why she was the victim of this unimaginable crime.

The victim has been identified as a young transgender cabaret performer from Indonesia – 27-year old Mayang Prasetyo.

Neighbours in the luxury Brisbane apartments alerted police to the grisly scene after a penetrating smell became too overwhelming to bear.

When police arrived at the apartment at 9pm on Saturday night her husband 28-year old Marcus Peter Volke fled.

Volke ran while holding a knife – jumping a rear fence into a laneway and took refuge in a wheelie bin.

While inside, he is alleged to have ended his own life.

The life of Mayang Prasetyo is now being revealed through her Facebook site, through dating apps she used and through her devastated family speaking out.

It has been reported that she had described herself online as a “top high-class Asian shemale” charging up to $500 an hour for her services as a prostitute.

The Courier Mail say that the young transgender performer was her families chief breadwinner – sending money home to Indonesia.

Her mother told The Courier Mail that “she was devastated at the loss of her eldest child, whom she referred to as her son Febri, Febri sent money home to Indonesia to support the family, including two sisters, aged 18 and 15.”

“He put the sisters through school,” Nining Sukarni said.

The couple met and married when they both worked on an international cruise ship.

His mother who lives in Ballarat was quoted as saying said she had no indication anything was wrong with him.

She had not yet met his wife but believed they were still working on boats in Europe.

A former schoolmate told The Courier the young chef had a dark side and “an intense gaze”, while neighbours have reported that the couple mostly kept to themselves.

“I only met her a couple of times and that was only a quick hello and to pat the dog,” one neighbour Courtney Reichart told Fairfax Media. “They seemed quite friendly, they didn’t seem like they had any issues, but it was a quick meet and greet.”

“It makes you feel sick that that poor girl sat there for however many days and we’ve been walking past, living our lives and thinking ‘hmmm what’s that smell’, but you don’t put two and two together.” She told the ABC.

Volke’s Facebook page ironically shows him as standing up against domestic violence and a supporter of ending animal cruelty, which has to make you wonder how could it have come to this?

It seems though that their own personal lives were well hidden from friends and neighbors who pay glowing tributes to them on social media.

The Courier Mail reports that Volke attended hospital with a cut hand late last week, telling the nursing staff he had been cut by his partner in a domestic incident.

A domestic incident which culminated in one of our nations’ most shocking crimes.

Police now struggle to understand what prompted the horrific crime that has rocked the nation.

Our thoughts are with the friends of family of Mayang Prasetyo and the parents of Marcus Volke.

If you or anyone you know needs help seek out Beyond Blue or call Lifeline on 131 114.

You can also call the National Domestic Violence Helpline on 1800 737 732.