A love triangle may have led to the demise of an Australian man who was shredded alive by a woodchipper, according to a new report.

Queensland butcher Bruce Saunders, 54, became trapped in the machine while clearing tree branches from the driveway of a woman’s rural property with two friends on Nov. 12.

Cops initially thought Saunders’ death was an accident but announced this month that they had launched a murder probe.

Detective Inspector Gary Pettiford said that officers had several “promising lines” of inquiry, with at least one being a love triangle, News.com.au reported. Authorities have yet to provide any more specifics.

Gympie police acting inspector Paul Algie said at the time of the incident that Saunders’ two pals tried to save him after he became entangled in the branches and was dragged into the machine.

But after reinterviewing the two men and witnesses, detectives raided the property again and seized “items of interest.”

Detectives were contacted by people who knew Saunders, and suggested to them that his death wasn’t an accident.

Saunders was the owner of a butcher shop that had been in his family for two generations until it closed in 2016.

He then moved to the Sunshine Coast city of Nambour after a breakup and started a new romance.

Police said this was the third time Saunders had been helping out the recently widowed woman “as an act of goodwill” and that she is not linked to his death.