Yusuf Nazlioglu murder: CCTV footage of shooting revealed

News.com.au

14 hours ago

A traumatised wife dropped to her haunches after watching helplessly as her husband was shot eight times in a Sydney carpark three years ago.
Jade Jeske would later tell a jury that by the time she made it to the safety of an elevator, she knew Yusuf Nazlioglu was 'going to be dead'.
CCTV footage played before the NSW Supreme Court captured the assassination of Nazlioglu, 40, as it unfolded and tracked getaway cars used in the June 27, 2022 hit job.
Following a lengthy trial, two men were this month found guilty of the former Lone Wolf bikie's murder after a jury considered the painstaking prosecution case built on surveillance and security footage.
Cameras tracked Nazlioglu, 40, driving a black Mercedes, which the court heard was central to his death, as it slowly descended multiple levels of the carpark in Walker St, Rhodes.
He backed the luxury car into a parking spot beneath the apartment building he lived in with his wife, who was sitting in the front passenger seat.
What they did not know was two men were lying in wait in a silver Volkswagen Golf parked a few aisles over, having entered the carpark just minutes earlier.
A hooded gunman was captured running towards the Mercedes before raising his arm and opening fire, delivering the fatal shots that saw Nazlioglu die in hospital hours later.
The shooter ran back to the getaway car, being driven by his accomplice, before it sped out of the complex.
Ms Jeske used her phone to film a brief glimpse of the Volkswagen and then ran to the lifts so she could get to ground level and call police.
She was captured in CCTV footage frantically pushing buttons and dropping toward the floor as the lift made its way up the five floors.
'I knew that he was going to be dead,' she told the court while giving evidence at trial.
'I didn't go and touch him or go over to him. I looked at him.'
The court heard Nazlioglu's refusal to return the black Mercedes, and another white Merc he hired from a Sydney business in May 2022, provided 'some explanation and motive' for the shooting.
Police charged three men with Nazlioglu's murder after tracking vehicles used in the hit travelling from Hinchinbrook on the day of the shooting.
Abdulrahman Mohamed Atteya, who prosecutors argued was either the shooter or getaway driver, was found guilty on Monday.
It followed a guilty verdict for co-accused Mohammed Hosni Khaled – who helped plan the hit man and driver's escape – on June 16.
A third man, Mohammed Baltagi, was found not guilty by the jury and walked free from the dock on June 19.
During the trial, the court heard Nazlioglu had only recently been released from prison after standing trial himself for the murder of Comanchero boss Mick Hawi in 2018.
He was acquitted by a jury, and upon his release was looking at ways to make money, Crown prosector Eric Balodis said.
Nazlioglu hired the two cars from a western Sydney business but 'did not return' them, and the court heard his wife began to receive messages from people trying to get them back.
'Please … contact us immediately before things are escalated (car reported stolen) or worse,' one message read.
Footage played to the court showed a number of men wearing masks or hooded jumpers entering the underground carpark on May 23 and retrieving the black Mercedes.
But three days later Nazlioglu stole the car back after his wife saw its owner streaming live on TikTok, showing the vehicle's location in the CBD.
Ms Jeske drove the white Mercedes to Castlereagh St where her then-husband was seen to unlock the black E-class using the key he still had and driving away.
Texts messages tendered to court appeared to show Nazlioglu and an associate discussing plans to sell the rented cars, and the fallout their theft had caused.
In one message, the associate said both cars would be worth $140,000 'if you had paper work'.
'These two cars was dumb idea,' the associate wrote.
Nazlioglu agreed: 'the worst idea lol especially when there is money owed'.
In the messages, sent on the day he was shot, Nazlioglu revealed he had been 'very emotional' recently.
'Sometimes I don't want to be around no more,' he wrote.
Both men said they looked like 'dirty c***s' among their associates, who Nazlioglu thought 'loved me and had a lot of respect for me' before what he called a 'straight rip'.
The court heard Ms Jeske may have narrowly escaped being shot herself just a day before the assassination, in what would have been a case of mistaken identity.
On June 26, 2022, she drove the black Mercedes into the carpark about 6.50pm and parked.
Mr Balodis said, unbeknown to her, CCTV captured a 'hooded man' crouching and edging toward the car.
'(She) knew nothing of what had happened,' he said.
'She simply got into the lift and went back into her apartment.'
All three men who faced trial over Nazlioglu's death pleaded not guilty and denied any involvement in the shooting.
After his acquittal, Mr Baltagi, 26, could be heard to thank God as the jury left the room.
Following their guilty verdicts, Atteya, 32, and Khaled, 27, were remanded in custody to face sentence at a later date.
The court was told a man police believe was with Atteya at the time of the murder had since fled overseas.