Real estate agent found with suspected bomb, shotgun under daughter’s cot

A dramatic police raid on a former real estate agent’s inner-north home forced the evacuation of nearby Abbotsford residents after detectives uncovered a suspected bomb hidden on the property.

Former Nelson Alexander agent Mason Staver was arrested on Tuesday after investigators allegedly discovered a stockpile of weapons stored around his house including a loaded, double-barrel sawn-off shotgun hidden under the mattress of his daughter’s cot.

The bizarre details were aired as Staver, a 35-year-old father, unsuccessfully applied for bail in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

Staver was supported in court by his father Arch Staver, a prominent inner-north auctioneer and the owner of the Abbotsford property raided by police.

The discovery of the arsenal resulted in a string of charges, including trafficking firearms, possessing ammunition, possessing weapons as a prohibited person, vehicle theft and possessing drugs of dependence.

Staver worked for prominent real estate agency Nelson Alexander for several years. It is unclear whether he is still employed with the firm, but his licence expired in 2022. His father was the director of the agency’s Fitzroy and Carlton North offices.

The court heard Yarra Crime Investigation Unit detectives descended on the Gipps Street home about 8.15am on Tuesday after connecting Staver to an allegedly stolen Range Rover.

The search was paused after the suspected bomb, affixed with thick steel piping, steel caps and an antenna device, was allegedly found under the carpet of the Victorian terrace.

Neighbours were evacuated from their homes as SES and bomb squad officers arrived at the scene. Sandbags were used to construct a bunker in the backyard to safely dispose of the device.

Chemical analysis is currently being conducted to determine whether it was capable of exploding, the court heard.

“It was the initial assessment of the [bomb squad unit] that it could have been a device capable of being remotely triggered,” the investigating detective said.

After resuming the search at around 3pm, two black bags were found in the dining room allegedly containing a machete, wooden sheath and firearm parts. Another device that resembled the suspected bomb was also located, but “without the fitted metal caps and ignition device”.

Small quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine and magic mushrooms were also seized.

The court heard a search of the kitchen uncovered a black bag containing 20 shotgun shells and ammunition cartridges and three imitation firearms.

More ammunition and false numberplates were found in a cupboard. The loaded double-barrel sawn-off shotgun stashed under a cot was seized.

Another gun, as well as cash and drugs, was found in a safe.

The former estate agent first came onto police’s radar in March after a white Range Rover fled a police patrol vehicle, a summary released to The Age alleged. The car was later found dumped just 500 metres from Staver’s home.

‘Police hold grave concerns that the accused offending is escalating.’

The prosecutor in Mason Staver’s bail application

Inside the abandoned car police discovered a loaded handgun, a Russian-made airgun, a black gas mask, several mobile phones, prescription medications, and a letter addressed to Staver.

CCTV footage captured a man suspected of resembling Staver on the street moments after the car, which was stolen from Airport West in October 2024, was abandoned. It was this incident that resulted in police executing the search warrant on Tuesday.

Staver allegedly told police he found one of the guns in an alleyway, and the sawn-off shotgun on an embankment in the neighbouring suburb of Kew.

Further charges are expected to be laid as detectives continue their investigations, the court heard.

“We were able to identify [the firearms parts] as … the components used to assemble handguns, we need further advice from the ballistics unit in terms of how close the accused was to making those devices operational,” the detective said.

The court heard police know “very little” about Staver beyond apparent recent drug misuse.

Police said they could not definitively say whether his toddler-aged daughter stayed at the house, but noted that a cot and children’s toys, including teddy bears, were stored alongside the array of weaponry, and a cubby house was located in the backyard.

His father, Arch, told the court his son suffered with substance abuse issues in 2014, which he sought treatment for, and went on to excel in his career. “To be brutally frank, we thought it was all behind us,” the senior Staver said.

Staver grew up in the inner north, attending North Fitzroy primary school and later the elite private school Xavier College.

Arch Staver said his young granddaughter lives with Staver’s ex-partner, and never stays at the Abbotsford home.

The prosecution urged the court to deny Staver’s bail: “Police hold grave concerns that the accused offending is escalating, and he is an unacceptable risk of endangering a safety and welfare of any other person due to the device that is located in his possession.”

Staver’s lawyer Chris Terry argued that while his client had never previously been diagnosed with a mental illness, there was a now question over the state of his mental health.

Magistrate Julie Grainger accepted that Staver had shown signs of paranoia but refused bail until the accused was assessed by a psychiatrist.

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