Man shot through eye and buried alive survived attempted murder by ‘contract crew', NSW police allege

The Guardian

6 days ago

Homicide squad detectives investigating the murder of Rich 'Dylan' Choup are appealing for information from the public regarding two other violent incidents they believe could be linked.
Strike Force Hallet was established to investigate a 'contract crew' allegedly responsible for the death of Choup in July 2024; the separate kidnapping and torture of a man in Canley Vale; and the attempted murder of another man in Queensland.
Homicide squad Det Supt Joseph Doueihi alleged on Monday that 'all three offences occurred within a six-day period between 19 July and 25 July'.
'We will allege that this syndicate that's responsible for these three offences are linked to a Victorian drug trafficking syndicate,' he said.
New South Wales police allege that on 19 July 2024, a 31-year-old man was kidnapped from the Auburn and Regents Park area and taken to a location in Canley Vale where he was tortured and had part of his ear cut off. 'Later that day, he was released,' Doueihi said.
Detectives searched a Canley Vale property – where the man was believed to have been held – on 10 October 2024 and allegedly found a box cutter.
'We will allege that was the box cutter that was used to sever part of that man's ear,' Doueihi said on Monday.
Detectives released an image of the box cutter as well as CCTV of two vehicles travelling in convoy at the intersection of Freeman Avenue and Sackville Street in Canley Vale around the time of the incident.
The vehicles were described as a dark-coloured Audi SQ2 and a white Volkswagen Golf.
'The relevance of the Audi is that it was also [allegedly] later used in the suspicious disappearance of Mr Choup,' Doueihi said.
Doueihi said on 21 July last year, a 23-year-old man from NSW was lured to Queensland by a group of males 'not knowing what their ulterior motive was'.
'The male was shot in the head through the eye with the bullet lodged in his brain [and] he was buried in a shallow grave,' the detective said.
Doueihi said that unbeknownst to the offenders, who believed the man was dead, the 23-year-old crawled out of the grave and made his way to a nearby service station in Jimboomba.
'Covered in dirt … the man asked staff not to call emergency services [but] he collapsed shortly after, prompting them to seek help. He was taken to hospital,' NSW police said in a statement on Monday.
Police released CCTV of a white Hyundai Getz seen at a roadhouse in Nambucca on the mid-north coast on Saturday 20 July 2024 – the day before the alleged attempted murder.
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Doueihi said 'incident three', the primary investigation of Strike Force Hallet, was the alleged murder of Choup. On the afternoon of 31 August 2024, officers were called to bushland off Heathcote Road at Lucas Heights after trail bike riders discovered human remains.
The remains were later confirmed to be those of 32-year-old Choup, who was reported missing to police on 29 July.
A post-mortem confirmed Choup had been fatally shot and that the top of his right ear had been severed.
'We believe that it's very highly likely related to something that's gone wrong within that drug trafficking syndicate from Melbourne,' Doueihi said.
'We believe that Mr Choup was an employee of that syndicate and has fallen foul of that syndicate for some reason – we don't have the exact details'.
Choup was last seen on 25 July in Cabramatta when he told friends he had a meeting.
CCTV captured Choup meeting with a man on Railway Parade who appeared to reprimand and slap him, the detective said on Monday. Both men were then seen walking towards a grey Audi SQ2.
Anyone with information about the CCTV, the men in it or the vehicles was urged to contact Crime Stoppers.