Sydney gangland murders: Mehmet Yilmaz murder case focuses on left-handed killer

A KEY focus of a contract killing investigation, allegedly carried out by one of the most calculated and organised criminal groups NSW has ever seen, centres on whether the triggerman was left-handed.

HE was the southpaw killer. Whoever pulled the trigger in one of Sydney’s most cold-blooded and calculated murders used his left hand to do it.

It is that crucial piece of evidence that police hope will help bring down alleged gang boss Abuzar “Abs” Sultani, a breakaway bikie who officers claim ran one of the most sophisticated crime operations in the state.

Sultani, 28, a university business studies student, allegedly heads a crime syndicate that stockpiled dozens of weapons, had more than 30 vehicles at its disposal and sold massive amounts of drugs.

Abuzar “Abs” Sultani has been charged over the alleged murder of Mehmet Yilmaz in September, 2016. Picture: Channel 7

He was also accused in court this week of two gangland murders.

Already facing court accused of shooting dead Mafia-relative Pasquale Barbaro in Earlwood, in Sydney’s south, in November, Sultani was this week charged with murdering bikie associate Mehmet Yilmaz.

Pasquale Barbaro was shot dead in Earlwood in November, 2016.

Along with associates Joshua Baines, 25, and Adam McNamara, 31, he allegedly killed Yilmaz in front of his fiancee at St Marys, in Sydney’s west, in September last year.

A crucial aspect of the police case is that the killer was identified as left-handed.

After a sweeping and complex crime investigation involving months of intense police surveillance, court documents reveal how Sultani was also pinned as a left-hander.

A police statement of facts tendered in court said: “Upon extensive review of surveillance material Sultani was identified as being left-handed.”

Police claim Sultani ran the crime operation like a business, demanding complete loyalty from the gang. He would assign different members different duties, ranging from the criminal to organising logistical support within the law.

Yilmaz, a 29-year-old father-of-one, was targeted after clocking up a $20,000 debt for methamphetamine that he was meant to sell.

His first warning allegedly came when he was kidnapped in July last year by former Lone Wolf bikie Erkan Keskin, who has been charged over the incident. Despite being reminded of his debt at two subsequent meetings, the debt remained unpaid.

Joshua Baines is detained by police at Olympic Park.

Joshua Baines, 25, was arrested at Sydney Olympic Park in December, 2016. He has since been charged over the murder of Mehmet Yilmaz in St Marys. Picture: Channel 7

Yilmaz was killed on September 9 last year in a quiet suburban street. According to police, Yilmaz drove to the home of Comanchero bikie gang member Hayan Chandab with his fiancee, telling her to stay in the car and lock the doors.

Nine minutes later a silver Holden Commodore made two laps of the street, creeping past Yilmaz’s car before stopping several metres away. Police claim accused gunman Sultani was in the car.

After half an hour inside Chanab’s home, Yilmaz emerged and walked towards his car.

In a chilling account of Yilmaz’s final moments, police say he was standing at the car, waiting for his fiancee to unlock it, when he was caught into the headlights of Sultani’s car.

Police at the scene of Mehmet Yilmaz’s shooting on Brisbane St, St Marys on September 9, 2016. Picture: Gordon McComiskie

Driving up next to Yilmaz, Sultani allegedly stuck a 9mm semiautomatic handgun out of the window, with his left-hand and opened fire. He then got out of the car, pointed the gun at Yilmaz’s fiancee, before turning and firing two more shots into Yilmaz’s head.

The underground car park at real estate agent Aram Makinadijian’s apartment block in Ryde was then used to store the getaway vehicle, which had been fitted with Victorian numberplates stolen two weeks before, police claim.

Makinadijian, 28, has been charged with being an accessory after the fact to murder but was granted bail on Friday.

Baines’s lawyer Ljupka Subeska said the “charges would most certainly be defended”.

The killing provides an insight into a sophisticated group that allegedly sowed its own downfall as police watched every move.

Police remove evidence from a unit at Australia Ave in Sydney Olympic Park. Picture: Craig Wilson

Police examine several cars in the parking garage of Abuzar Sultani’s Olympic Park apartment building in December, 2016. Picture: Craig Wilson

Court documents tendered in the case of, Siaosi Mokofisi, another group member, claim Sultani cut his teeth in the Rebels bikie gang before going alone. He allegedly took members of the gang’s Burwood chapter with him.

The 31 vehicles the group had at its disposal were driven at different times and by various people in no traceable pattern. Cars that hadn’t been stolen were registered in company names, sometimes linked to a group member, and stored away from view.

Police take away evidence during a raid of the group’s alleged safe house in Olympic Park. Picture: Craig Wilson

Sultani is accused of operating a sophisticated network of companies, many involved with the construction industry, to move the group’s allegedly ill-gotten gains and launder money.

After the gang emerged on the radar of multiple crime squads, police gained a foothold inside the crew in August, 2016, court documents show. In an undercover operation, police sold Sultani an encrypted BlackBerry for $2400.

It was on this device Sultani allegedly organised the sale of drugs on various occasions last year, including 2kg of methamphetamine, MDMA and an SKS assault rifle.