Key witness in Jason De Ieso murder denies he was seen with gun in the weeks before bikie-linked murder

A key witness in the Jason De Ieso murder trial has denied being in possession of a gun linked to his shooting murder, and admitted initially lying to police about how he got it, a court has heard.

The key witness in the Jason De Ieso murder trial has denied being in possession of a gun connected to the murder in the weeks before the shooting, a court has heard.

The witness, who cannot be named, told a Supreme Court jury, it was “absolutely a lie” that a friend had seen a gun slip out from under the passenger seat of his car in the weeks before the murder.

Andrew Fowler-Walker, for accused Musa Alzuain, asked the witness about an incident about six weeks before Mr De Ieso’s murder, when he had picked up a friend who ran out of petrol.

“Whilst you were driving to the petrol station … driving erratically, stopping and starting … the gun … slipped out,” Mr Fowler Walker said.

The witness responded: “That’s absolutely a lie. That never happened.”

Mr Fowler-Walker then said the friend had then asked the witness “what the f**k are you doing with it”.

Jason De Ieso was shot dead in a Pooraka paint shop in 2012

Lawyer Andrew Fowler-Walker. Picture: Russell Millard

Images of a revolver tendered during the trial of eight accused charged with the murder of Jason De Ieso. Picture: Supplied

“You laughed at him and said ‘don’t worry’,” Mr Fowler-Walker said.

The witness disagreed.

The witness had earlier told the jury he was given the gun by Musa Alzuain a couple of days after Mr De Ieso’s murder and had taken the weapon – a revolver – into town with another group of friends who planned to attend a Light Sq nightclub.

The witness had said he was refused entry to the nightclub because he had friends with links to members of the Hells Angels.

The jury has also heard that after he was refused entry, police had surrounded the car and found the gun.

It was later linked to Mr De Ieso’s murder, but was not the weapon that fired the fatal shot.

Mr De Ieso was gunned down when a group of men stormed his Pooraka crash repair workshop on November 21, 2012.

Jason De Ieso murder accused (back row) Kyle Pryde, Nicholas Sianis, Seywan Moradi, (centre) Mohamed Alzuain, Musa Alzuain, Husain Alzuain, (front), Daniel Jalleh and Ross Montgomery. Picture: Timothy Ide

Eight men are charged with his murder: Musa Alzuain, his brothers Mohamed and Husain Alzuain, Ross Montgomery, Daniel Jalleh, Nicholas Sianis, Kyle Pryde and Seywan Moradi. Each has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

On Wednesday, the witness also told the jury he had initially lied to police about how he obtained the gun, having told them he found it near a railway line on his way to work and stored it in his bum bag.

“The whole conversation was a lie,” he said.

De Ieso trial: See the crime-scene photos

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Mr Fowler-Walker also asked the witness if he had later changed his story to say Musa Alzuain had given him the gun to “keep the heat off you” because the witness had been a suspect in Mr De Ieso’s murder.

“I just wanted police to know that I was not involved in the murder. I wanted them to know where I got the weapon from,” he responded.

He had earlier told the court he had spoken to police in 2013 but had not signed his statements until 2019, in the weeks before the accused began being arrested.

The trial is continuing.