Queensland man Byron Haddow was found dead in the plunge pool of his Bali villa earlier in 2025 while on holiday.
The body of the 23-year-old was returned to Australia four weeks later, and a second autopsy found his heart was missing, prompting Australian officials to demand answers from their Indonesian counterpart.
Dr I Made Darmajaya, director of medical nursing and support at Prof Ngoerah hospital, denied the hospital was involved in organ theft, explaining that the hospital carried out a forensic autopsy on Haddow’s body following a request from local police.
“I emphasise, on behalf of Prof Ngoerah Hospital, that the circulating rumours of organ theft are false,” he told reporters.
“There is no interest of the hospital to withhold (the heart). Actually, our interest was in the context of examination in accordance with the law.”
He said Haddow’s heart was repatriated to Australia later than the rest of his body as it took a long time to process it to meet the requirements for a pathological examination
