Rebels bikie arrested over 2013 murder of Johnny Salafia
JOHNNY Salafia was once a member of the Rebels bikie gang but at the time of his brutal execution had been spending time with an associate from the rival Comanchero bikie gang.
NSW
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THE rain was belting down when father-of-three Johnny Salafia answered a knock at the door of his south coast home late on a Sunday night in June 2013.
When he opened the door he allegedly saw high-ranking Rebels bikie member Robert McCloskey and at least two other men, police will allege.
“What?” he was heard to say before he was shot in the head, chest and buttocks through the security door of his Kings Point house near Ulladulla.
As his executioners sped off in a white Subaru Forester, a bloodied Salafia collapsed in his lounge room.
His partner Sara Woodcock found him when she got home about 10.30pm and despite her best efforts to revive him, the 38-year-old died on the floor.
The Daily Telegraph understands Salafia was once a member of the Rebels bikie gang but at the time of his death had been spending time with an associate from the rival Comanchero bikie gang.
Police will allege that Salafia’s dealings with the Comanchero gang upset members of the Rebels’ Ulladulla chapter.
This morning police arrested McCloskey — the former head of the club’s Sydney City chapter — at his Wharf Street house at Surfside near Batemans Bay.
The Daily Telegraph understands McCloskey, 42, was close mates with Rebels bikie Mark Easter — whose bullet-riddled body was found dumped in bushland at Cowan north of Sydney in June 2015.
No one has been charged with Easter’s murder but police have released CCTV of the white van which was used to dump his body at 3.30am on June 29, 2015.
Today a topless McCloskey — who boasts a large Rebels tattoo across his back- was taken to Batemans Bay police station where he was charged with one count of murder.
Police will allege the 42-year-old was the one who fired the fatal shot at Salafia’s chest.
McCloskey’s lawyer Chris Eliopoulos said his client “vehemently” denied the allegations.
“The allegations are vehemently denied and we will be defending the charges,” he told the Daily Telegraph.
McCloskey appeared before Batemans Bay court this afternoon where he did not apply for bail and it was formally refused by the magistrate.
He is due to appear before Nowra Local Court on January 16.
At the time of Salafia’s execution members of his family were asleep in the house.
About a week after his death on July 1, 2013, police found the getaway car they believe was used by the men involved in Salafia’s killing.
The white Subaru Forester was found burnt out on a dirt track off Woodburn Road at Morton, further south of Ulladulla.
Today’s arrest involved officers attached to Strike Force Hobler and Strike Force Raptor and was co-ordinated by the NSW Police homicide and gangs squad and detectives from Shoalhaven Local Area Command.
Police expect to make further arrests.
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