Crystal Shihada says she let Rick Barbaro stay because he had nowhere to go
Crystal Shihada says she was shocked when Ricardo 'Rick' Barbaro was arrested at her Sydney apartment after a ten-day manhunt following the death of Victorian mum Ellie Price.
NSW
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The innocent woman whose penthouse was stormed by cops to arrest accused murderer Ricardo Barbaro told her real estate agent she knew nothing about him or his background when she was asked to put him up.
Nail technician Crystal Shihada, 27, maintains she does not know Ricardo 'Rick' Barbaro, 33, who police found hiding in her apartment in Wentworth Point, ending a ten-day interstate manhunt.
It is not suggested Ms Shihada is involved in any wrongdoing and a Victoria Police spokeswoman confirmed the woman would not be charged.
Morton real estate agent Felix Fang said she told him: “I don’t know him personally. (Someone) asked me to help him out as he had nowhere to stay.”
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Ms Shihada told of her shock when the NSW Police Robbery and Serious Crime Squad arrested Barbaro.
“She told me he stayed just a few days, that she has spoken to the police and told them everything, and they know she doesn’t know him,” Mr Fang added.
It is believed he was alone inside the apartment when police burst in and found him.
Detectives from the state’s Robbery and Serious Crime Squad say they will continue to explore lines of inquiry that will identify anyone who knowingly assisted the wanted man.
Barbaro is the brother of slain Sydney underworld chief Pasquale Barbaro, 35, gunned down in a 2016 gangland hit.
He stands accused of killing his on-off girlfriend Ellie Price, 26, who was found dead in her South Melbourne townhouse on May 4.
Neighbours told how Barbaro refused to leave the top floor apartment in a tense stand-off lasting four hours.
“Police were shouting ‘come out Ricardo, we know you’re in there, we won't do anything to harm you’,” said a neighbour who asked not to be named.
“They broke down the door just before midnight,” she said.
Barbaro has since been charged in Victoria with Ms Price's murder.