Actually he was British, police retract statements about nationality of body found in rice paddy

Badung police have retracted earlier statements that the nationality of Kelvin Ellis, 60, was Australian. Apparently Ellis had a UK passport and lived in Australia for awhile before moving to Bali, while two of his sons currently study there, according to ABC. 

Ellis’ body was found this morning between Kuta and Ubud with the throat slashed, hands and feet tied, wrapped up in bedding and plastic. Ellis is believed to have died around 18-24 hours before his body was found in a state of decay on Tuesday morning, reported news.com.au. 

Police have confirmed that this is a murder case. “We are yet to find the motive. Our investigation team are still conducting the investigation,” said Komang Suartana, head of Badung Police, as quoted by news.com.au. Suspects have yet to be identified, said Suartana when asked if Ellis’ wife is a suspect. 

The last recording of Ellis and Indonesian wife Noor on security cameras was leaving their Sanur villa by car at 1:10 pm on Sunday. After that, recordings only showed Noor going to and from the villa, said Suartana. Apparently the couple had lived in their villa in Emerald Villa complex for more than 10 years, reported ABC. 

There are conflicting reports of whether Ellis was actually reported missing. The Australian Associated Press published that police said Ellis’ wife called her husband in as missing, while a more recently updated report from news.com.au stated Detective Wisnu Wardana said there was no report of a missing person. Waiting for the smoke to clear so we have a better idea of what actually happened as police and detective continue to sort out the facts and bring us closer to understanding this murder. 

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