Bikie’s dad attacked killer with garden stake, court told
A NSW father attacked his son’s killer with a garden stake seconds after the bikie was gunned down in his front yard, a Sydney court has heard.
NSW
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WHEN Slobodan Janceski ran outside his home to find his son had been gunned down by a masked motorcyclist he picked up a garden stake from the front yard and started swinging, a NSW court has heard.
The Wollongong father of a Comanchero gang member lunged at Matthew Paul Wiggins, a martial arts fighter who was “stronger, faster and fitter” than him, crown prosecutor Patrick Barrett told Wiggins’ murder trial today.
“In an endeavour to protect his son, he picked up a metal garden stake and took off after the assailant,” Mr Barrett told the Supreme Court jury in Sydney.
Slobodan, a professional boxer in his younger days, suffered a broken nose, a shattered jaw and a fractured eye socket in the ensuing fight before the rider fled, leaving his gun behind.
The father had knocked the shooter’s helmet and sunglasses off and both items were later linked to Wiggins through DNA testing, the court heard.
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Wiggins has pleaded not guilty to killing Darko Janceski, 32, and causing grievous bodily harm to his father during the April 2012 attack.
“This shooting took place in broad daylight,” Mr Barrett said in his opening address.
Wiggins, now 29, allegedly shot Darko three times with a semiautomatic pistol as the bikie was working on a car in the front yard of his parents’ Berkeley home.
The court heard Wiggins carried out the execution to avenge his missing friend, Goran Nikolovski, who, along with Darko, had been a standover man for people involved in the drug trade.
Mr Nikolovski’s body has never been found but his burnt-out car was discovered in bushland days after he went missing in October 2011, Mr Barrett said.
Jurors were told Darko Janceski was rumoured to be involved with his disappearance, and is suspected of setting his own house on fire to destroy evidence.
Darko had survived a similar shooting attempt on his life less than three months before he died. He stayed at his parent’s house after being released from hospital.
The Crown will draw on telephone intercepts, CCTV footage and DNA found on the motorcyclist’s helmet and Prada sunglasses that had the same profile as Wiggins. Defence barrister David Doltone SC noted other people’s DNA and fingerprints were also found on the helmet. He said Darko’s extortion business meant plenty of people could dislike him.
“Yes, Mr Wiggins, who is close friends of Goran Nikolovski, was very upset about (his death),” he said.
“That doesn’t provide someone with a motive to kill.” Mr Doltone added Darko Janceski’s murderer was wearing a balaclava underneath his helmet and no one has been able to identify him.
“The crown case is flawed,” he said.
The trial continues before Justice Megan Latham.