Complete guide to the Jason De Ieso trial: Adelaide’s mega Hells Angel-linked murder explained
Firebombing, retaliation and murder – everything we know about Jason De Ieso’s death in the crossfire of a bikie war, including how the police tracked down his murderers.
Police & Courts
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Within hours of Jason De Ieso’s murder police were tailing the Hells Angels-linked men they suspected were responsible for the innocent man’s death.
Surveillance officers had eyes on a man prosecutors alleged was then Hells Angels prospect Daniel Mark Jalleh and watched as he left his Hyde Park home toting a red shopping bag as he strolled along nearby streets.
He returned empty handed but, inside a nearby bin, police discovered the bag which contained clothes they forensically linked to Jalleh and Ross William Montgomery.
The evidence was just a small part of the five-month long Supreme Court murder trial which ended in the convictions of both men, aged 34 and 38 respectively, alongside the three Alzuain brothers Husain Alzuain, 36, of Goodwood, Mohamed Alzuain, 32, of Mile End and Musa Ali Alzuain, 30, of St Morris and Kyle Lloyd Pryde, 35, of Adelaide and Nicholas Sianis, 36, of Beverley.
The Supreme Court jury was unable to reach a verdict on Seywan Moradi, 36, of Walkley Heights, who maintains his innocence.
The clothes in the dumped bag were not linked to the murder scene but prosecutor Jim Pearce KC told the Supreme Court jury it showed Jalleh “was engaging in very furtive clandestine conduct” on the evening and had made a “concerted effort to make sure that he wasn’t spotted doing whatever he was doing”.
WHAT HAPPENED
Police were already on high alert after a firebombing at the Alzuain family home on November 20, 2012.
The front door of the Parafield Gardens home had been forced open and a Molotov cocktail was thrown inside, causing about $1000 damage to the house.
In his opening address, Mr Pearce told the jury the group immediately set about “making plans for retaliation” because the “real damage” of the attack was not the Alzuain family home but “to the pride of the Hells Angels North Crew and the pride of the Alzuains”.
The men – all of whom were closely linked to the Hells Angels North Crew – immediately suspected rival bikie gang, the Finks, were behind the attack.
The jury were told the men gathered at the Salisbury Highway home of Mohamed Alzuain and Montgomery the following day where they donned hooded jumpers and gloves and organised face coverings and guns.
They first travelled to senior Fink Charles Bonnici’s Salisbury North tattoo parlour, Lords of Ink, where they trashed the shop and bashed staff, before travelling to Mr De Ieso’s Langford St, Pooraka, crash repair workshop.
CCTV of the incident captures the men storming across the front yard and opening fire, ambushing the men inside who were on a lunch break, and fatally gunning down Mr De Ieso as he ran for cover.
THE BIKIE WAR: FINKS V HELLS ANGELS
The firebombing was preceded by 18 months of tensions between the warring Finks and Hells Angels bikie clubs.
Prosecutors said the gangs had sparred off on multiple occasions prior to Mr De Ieso’s murder, beginning with a disagreement between members outside North Terrace strip club, The Firm, on May 29, 2011, about 4am.
An hour later, a group of Finks members stormed across the City nightclub floor and a vicious melee involving bar stools began.
A few months later, in September 2011, a group of disguised men burst into the home of then Fink Mark Sandery and twice shot a child in the leg. Then Hells Angels associate Arron Cluse was found guilty of aggravated serious criminal trespass and two counts of endangering life in the wake of the attack on the basis he was among the group present during the attack.
He was arrested after a hammer with his DNA was left behind after the attack and was later jailed for 11 years.
Cluse’s Burton home was shot up and twice torched in the weeks that followed.
Another public brawl broke out between the warring gangs in March 2012 and ended when a shot was fired on Hindley St. The groups of men again brawled on November 17, 2012, outside a kickboxing event at Adelaide Arena in Findon.
Three days later, the Alzuain family home was firebombed, which prosecutors said was the final straw for the Hells Angels North Crew.
WHO WAS JASON DE IESO
Jason De Ieso was a 33-year-old son, father-to-be, brother and friend to many. He was an innocent panel beater with a Pooraka workshop. Speaking after the verdicts were handed down, his brother Dino De Ieso said he was “an innocent man going about his business and he had his life cut short by a cowardly and despicable inhumane act”.
He said his brother would always be “always cherished, never forgotten”.
“Your infectious smile, humour, kindness and connection you had with all was unique. May you finally now rest in peace,” he said.
During the trial, witnesses described him as a great boss, and said his business was known as the place to go if you wanted a good spray painting job.
CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE
Mr De Ieso was not connected to either of the gangs, but was friends with Charles Bonnici who often completed his own projects at Mr De Ieso’s workshop.
Mr Pearce had told the jury Mr De Ieso was not the intended target of the attack instead had been “metaphorically speaking, caught in the crossfire”.
“But his death was no metaphor for anything. It’s just a tragic waste of life. Senseless. That’s the truth of the matter,” he said.
Instead, he said Mr Bonnici was the “common link” between the tattoo parlour bashing and Mr De Ieso’s murder.
“On the prosecution case Mr Bonnici is the man the accused were looking for when they arrived at Langford St at 1.41pm,” he said.
THE TRIAL
After years of tireless police work which led to the arrests of the Hells Angels-linked men from August 2019, the five-month trial began on May 10, 2023 – 10 and a half years after Mr De Ieso’s murder.
Dozens of witnesses gave evidence throughout the trial including those in the workshop, police, experts and other civilians. Their evidence and the addresses of counsel spans more than 6200 pages of transcript.
None of the accused men personally gave evidence during the trial, with each electing to exercise their legal right to remain silent.
The jury began deliberating on Thursday, October 5, after Justice Brian Martin finished three days of directions the afternoon day before.
For the first time in South Australia in a number of years, the jury were sequestered and spent six nights in a hotel before delivering the verdicts.
Justice Martin has given them a lifelong exemption from any future jury service.
THE VERDICT
After 30 and a half hours of discussions across the following six days the jury of six men and six women found seven of the accused men guilty of murder.
As the verdicts were read aloud the accused men remained almost emotionless, aside from shaking their heads. Only Montgomery spoke audibly, uttering “this is wrong”, before telling his mother to stay strong and that he loved her.
In the public gallery, a relative of the Alzuain brothers began yelling that she was “done being quiet” before exiting the court complex more composed and refusing to comment a few minutes later.
Each of the men found guilty will serve a mandatory life sentence.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
The seven men found guilty of Mr De Ieso’s murder will return to court in December for a pre-sentence hearing, where they will hear any victim impact statements from Mr De Ieso’s loved ones.
At that hearing, the prosecution and defence counsel will also make submissions about the matter and their clients.
At a later date, Justice Martin will impose non-parole periods on each accused.
In the interim, they have 21 days from the verdicts to lodge any appeals against conviction.
Mr Moradi, for whom the jury was unable to reach a verdict, will return to court later this month for a hearing where the future of his case will be discussed.
Bill Boucaut KC, for Mr Moradi, had told the jury there was “not a skerrick of evidence” that could prove his client was among those captured in the CCTV at Langford St.
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