Mark Akers Was Allegedly Murdered by Lisa Anne Silson: Another Domestic Violence Story Australia Has Ignored

When 44-year-old Queensland man Mark Akers was found dead beside the Newell Highway near Jerilderie in June 2025, the early media framing was largely that of a suspicious roadside death.

Police said Mr Akers had left Brisbane on 15 June for a road trip to Melbourne. His body was found two days later, about 11 kilometres south of Jerilderie. Reports said he had suffered critical injuries, believed by police to be consistent with being struck by a vehicle. ABC Riverina reported¹ that Mr Akers had not been travelling alone, and that his vehicle had later been found in Victoria for forensic examination. His father, John Akers, described him as "the kindest soul who would do anything for anyone" and pleaded for answers.

By October, the case had shifted. Lisa Anne Silson, 40, who police said was known to Mr Akers, was extradited from Victoria to New South Wales and charged with domestic violence-related murder. ABC later reported² that she was transported to Deniliquin Police Station and refused bail, with the matter listed for Albury Local Court.

The Junee Bulletin reported³ that detectives alleged Mr Akers had been travelling with Ms Silson at the time and that he was last seen alive at about 2:30am on 16 June at a service station on Southey Street, Jerilderie. The same report stated that Strike Force Zaventem had been established, an arrest warrant was issued in Deniliquin Local Court, and Ms Silson later contested extradition from Victoria.

Other reporting repeated the police description of the matter as murder connected to domestic violence. The Daily Telegraph reported⁴ that police were treating the case as domestic violence and that Ms Silson had been charged with murder domestic violence. The National Tribune⁵, republishing police material, also referred to the warrant being executed for "murder (DV)".

And yet, despite that label, the broader public framing has been remarkably muted.

A Familiar Silence

This is the uncomfortable point: when a man is allegedly killed by a woman in circumstances police themselves describe as domestic violence-related, the case often does not receive the same domestic violence framing that would usually accompany a female victim and male accused. The words "domestic violence" may appear in the charge description, but they are rarely the centre of the story.

Headlines from 9News⁶ and Region Riverina⁷ tell their own story. "Woman charged with murder after body found beside NSW highway." "Man found dead beside Newell Highway was not travelling alone." "Devastated dad seeks answers after traveller found dead on side of rural highway." These are accurate descriptions of events, but they frame the case primarily as a roadside death, a police investigation, or an alleged hit-run.

There is a difference between mentioning domestic violence and recognising it.

Domestic Violence Is Not Gendered

Domestic violence is not only violence by men against women. It is violence, abuse, coercion or lethal harm within a domestic or intimate relationship context. Men can be victims. Women can be perpetrators. Same-sex couples can be affected. Families can be shattered regardless of whether the victim fits the usual public image of a domestic violence victim.

NSW Police states⁸ that domestic and family violence can happen across relationship types and that "all genders can be victims and offenders."

That principle matters. If domestic violence advocacy only recognises victims when the accused is male, then male victims become invisible twice: first in life, when they may struggle to be believed or supported, and again in death, when their cases are described without the same urgency, moral clarity or public language afforded to other victims.

Remembering Mark Akers

Mark Akers deserves to be remembered as more than a man found beside a highway. He was a son. He was loved. His family asked for answers and peace. Police allege his death was not merely a tragic roadside incident, but a domestic violence-related murder.

If those allegations are proven, then this case should force a difficult but necessary conversation. Domestic violence policy, media coverage and public sympathy must be consistent. The test should not be the sex of the accused. The test should be the violence, the relationship context, the harm done, and the victim left without a voice.

Male victims of domestic violence deserve to be seen clearly. Their deaths deserve to be named honestly. And their families deserve more than silence.