Pubdate: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 Source: Australian Associated Press (Australia) Copyright: 2000 Australian Associated Press 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. - --- MAP posted-by: Allan Wilkinson