Family members of innocent bystander Jason De Ieso reveal ongoing insurmountable grief after the Hells Angels linked murder
The men found guilty of the bikie-linked shooting murder of Jason De Ieso have been hit with massive jail sentences. See the list of the longest non-parole periods in SA.
Police & Courts
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Two bikie-linked brothers found guilty of the “premeditated, cold-blooded murder” of innocent man Jason De Ieso amid gang “warfare” have been jailed for at least 35 years, while their co-offenders have been jailed for 30 years.
Husain Alzuain, 36, of Goodwood, and his younger brother Musa Alzuain, 30, of St Morris, were given the longer sentence because Supreme Court Auxiliary Justice Brian Martin found their criminality in the “mindless and cowardly brutality of the highest order” had “exceeded the other offenders”.
Their 35-year non-parole periods are one of the longest imposed for a single murder in SA.
Mohamed Alzuain, 32, of Mile End, Daniel Mark Jalleh, 34, of Clovelly Park, Ross William Montgomery, 38, of Andrews Farm, Kyle Lloyd Pryde, 35, of Adelaide and Nicholas Sianis, 36, of Beverley were handed non-parole periods of 30 years.
Some of the seven men shook their heads and smirked as the non-parole period was imposed and they were led from the dock.
Justice Martin, who had earlier imposed a mandatory life sentence on each of the men, said the “point blank” retaliation murder of Mr De Ieso, who was “totally innocent” and not a member of any gang, amid an escalating hostility between the Hells Angels and Finks was “nothing short of terrifying and brutal”.
“Your crime was premeditated, cold-blooded murder, committed by a group of you acting together in the context of what might fairly be described as outlaw motorcycle gang warfare,” he said.
”Underlying this conduct and pushing it to the ultimate conclusion was your adherence to the violent code of the Hells Angels.”
Justice Martin said the crime sat at the “higher end” of the scale of seriousness for murder, which came after a firebombing at the Alzuain family home the night before.
He said Musa Alzuain, a champion boxer who had been vying for selection to compete at the Tokyo Olympics at the time of his August 2019 arrest, had fired the fatal shot and had played a key role in enlisting the help of others, and disposal of the weapons.
“Significantly you entered the yard armed with a loaded saw-noff shotgun and, without hesitation, fired the fatal shot with intent to kill,” he said.
He said Husain Alzuain was the only fully patched member of the Hells Angels among the group at the time was the “leader and primary instigator” of the plan.
Jason De Ieso was a recently married father-to-be when he was callously gunned down by bikie-linked men in a case prosecutors described as mistaken identity – causing his family to mourn the unbearable and indescribable loss.
Earlier on Monday, for the first time since Mr De Ieso was ambushed at his Pooraka workshop, Unique Custom Paint and Panel in November 2012, his family members were able to face the seven bikie-linked men convicted of the crime.
His brother Dino De Ieso said words were “never enough” to describe “how this hideous, cowardly, unprovoked murder on my brother – a husband, a father to be, a son and a friend to many – has affected myself and others”.
He said such a crime had “no place on this Earth”.
“Jason may have been a nobody to you all but to us, he was everything,” he said.
“He was in the prime of his life, just married and looking forward to the most beautiful gift in life – becoming a father.
“You stripped him of this and so much more because of an ego trip. Did a murder really need to happen that day? You have inflicted us with so much more than pain and loss.”
He said comprehending the way Jason was taken away from his family was “unbearable” and had taken a huge toll on his family.
“I can only hope and pray that the law makes an example of you all … may the life you took from my brother now be taken from you all,” he said.
In a statement read by prosecutor Ryan Williams, Mr De Ieso’s mother, Giovanna De Ieso, said her heart ached for the loss of her son who was about to become a father for the first time when he was killed.
“Jason, our son, an innocent bystander, did not deserve to die,” she said.
“Our hearts ache, for he never got to meet his child which he was overwhelmed with happiness and joy knowing he was going to be a father for the first time.
“We are unable to build on the cherished and beautiful memories because of your senseless act of brutality and cowardness.
“May the punishment you now receive one day make you all realise the act you undertook has no place in this world and the punishment is nowhere near as to what we have had to endure every day.”
Giulianna Pellegrino, stared down the men in the dock as she said the void left by her cousin was “immeasurable”.
“His life was taken in broad daylight in what was supposed to be his safe space, his workshop. And all by a bunch of young thugs trying to be cool to fit in to some stupid club like children. And they thought they would be men,” she said.
“Being a man is providing for your family, going to work and being a good person. Not waltzing up to someone’s workplace in a herd and firing at innocent, unexpecting people.”
She implored the court to consider the “profound and lasting consequences of this heinous crime” when determining the non-parole period to be imposed.
Another cousin, Julio Girolamo said Mr De Ieso, his cousin, has been “ruthlessly taken away from us in a reprehensible and deliberate act, leaving behind an indelible mark on our lives forever”.
“The consequences of his unjust murder have shattered the foundation of our family, leaving us in a perpetual state of grief and disbelief,” he said.
“Every family gathering is now tainted with the absence of Jason’s laughter, warmth and presence. The joy that once filled our gatherings is now replaced by the profound sense of loss, creating a void that can never be filled.”
A jury of six men and six women found the seven men guilty of murder on October 10 after 30.5 hours of deliberations across six days to conclude a five-month long trial.
The jury did not reach a verdict for an eighth man, Seywan Moradi, 36, of Walkley Heights, who maintains his innocence and will face a retrial on a date to be set.
All seven men found guilty have also each lodged an appeal against their conviction.
During the trial, the jury was told each of the men found guilty was either a prospect, member or closely associated with the Hells Angels and that Mr De Ieso was an innocent bystander who was shot amid an escalating 18-month feud between that gang and the Finks.
It heard the intended target of the shooting was then senior Finks member Charles Bonnici who was known to frequent Mr De Ieso’s workshop.
On Monday, Mr Williams, prosecuting, said the premeditated murder “a very serious example of the crime”.
“It falls within one of the worst categories of murder … a non-parole period significantly longer than 20 years is, in the Crown’s submission, warranted and should be imposed,” he said.
“Given that this was a case where an innocent man, the subject of mistaken identity, was gunned down by outlaw motorcycle gang figures is a particularly serious aspect of the offending.”
Their sentences will be backdated to 2019, when they were each arrested and taken into custody.
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