WARREN John McCorriston is a former Belmont High student who worked at Rundles in Newcastle as a teenager before switching to hospitality and landing jobs at some of Queensland's best known resorts, including Daydream Island.
He was back in NSW this week for a Tweed Heads Local Court hearing to face serious sexual assault, stalking and violence charges against three women in the Lake Macquarie and Central Coast areas between 1979 and 1997.
Mr McCorriston, 58, was described in Queensland tourism publications as a "respected hospitality professional" who was lauded for his work at Daydream Island in the Whitsundays, where he was food and beverage manager from 2004-05, before returning in 2011 as resort manager.
"I am looking forward to enhancing Daydream's reputation as the jewel of the Whitsundays," Mr McCorriston said on re-joining the resort after stints at Gold Coast and Surfers Paradise resorts, including Q1, Mantra Legends and the Holiday Inn.
He was refused bail on Thursday after Lake Macquarie detectives flew to Queensland early this week following information uncovered during a cold case investigation of the disappearance of four Lake Macquarie women between 1978 and 1994.
Strike Force Arapaima formally charged Mr McCorriston with 22 historical offences, including sexually assaulting three women in Lake Macquarie and Gosford between 1979 and 1997. Two of the women were teenagers.
The strike force, led by veteran Lake Macquarie Detective Sergeant Kristi Faber, was established in April last year to investigate the disappearance of university student Leanne Goodall, 20, after leaving the Star Hotel in December, 1978; dental nurse Robyn Hickie, 18, last seen at a Belmont North bus stop in April, 1979; Amanda Robinson, 14, last seen at a Swansea bus stop while walking home from a school dance in April, 1979 and Gordana Kotevski, 16, who was last seen in 1994 while walking home at Charlestown.
No one has been charged in relation to their disappearances and suspected murders.
Mr McCorriston grew up in the Belmont area and left school in year 11 in 1978.
He worked at well-known Newcastle business Rundle Tailoring for an unspecified period after leaving school. From the late 1980s he lived in the Gosford area.
He is charged with sexually assaulting a woman in the Gosford area, maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm and attempting to choke or strangle her.
He is also charged with stalking and sexually assaulting two teenagers, 17 and 19, in the Lake Macquarie area.
Mr McCorriston's professional credentials show he completed a hospitality degree at Southern Cross University in the 1990s before moving to Queensland and working at major resorts.
He was arrested at the Q1 apartment resort at Surfers Paradise on Wednesday this week by Queensland and Strike Force Arapaima police before an extradition hearing on Thursday morning and a Tweed Heads court appearance on Thursday afternoon.
His lawyer Alex Somers said Mr McCorriston had had a successful career in the Queensland tourism and hospitality industry but was recently separated from his partner and living alone.
Mr McCorriston was suffering "emotional distress and feelings of loneliness and isolation", Mr Somers said.
Strike Force Arapaima is continuing its investigations into the suspected murders of the four Lake Macquarie women. In November police appealed to people for information after releasing a photo of a green Holden Torana from the 1970s which was described as a "significant" new lead in the case.
Mr McCorriston will appear in Newcastle Local Court on March 4.
