Bikie Axel Sidaros confessed his role in hit job to undercover police officer, court records reveal
An undercover cop posing as a Sydney gangster arrested with a “bag full of cash” has coaxed a would-be bikie hitman to confess his role on tape.
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A low ranking Canberra bikie who tried to murder former local Comanchero president Peter Zdravkovic during a rift in the gang confessed to an undercover cop he was “running the show” the night of the failed hit job.
Axel Sidaros was last week found guilty of a string of charges including arson and the attempted murder of Mr Zdravkovic.
The Canberra Star can now reveal an undercover police officer was planted in the Canberra watch-house cells just minutes before Sidaros was refused bail and locked up in September last year.
The officer — referred to in court only as “UCO William” — was part of a team of four highly-trained undercover Australian Federal Police officers tasked with “elicit(ing) information from the accused regarding his involvement in the attempted murder”.
Justice David Mossop ruled that the recordings could be shown to the jury, but the evidence was not used at trial amid concerns for the officer’s safety.
Transcripts of the conversation between Sidaros and “William” show the undercover officer ingratiating himself with the bikie, skilfully prying loose details about what his cellmate was in for.
When Sidaros revealed he had been charged with attempted murder, the officer responded with: “Oh, f*ck. You’re not mucking around are you”.
“William” had a cover story that was that he was part of a Sydney-based crime gang, had been arrested on one of his regular trips to Canberra, and was being held while detectives were “trying to figure out f*cking whether they’re gonna charge me for having a bag full of cash”.
“I only come down for a bit of business and then f*ck off again usually,” the undercover cop said.
Sidaros was at first hesitant to discuss his crimes, saying he “shouldn’t say anything (because) they’re probably recording” the conversation, only for the undercover officer to falsely reassure him police have “got to read you your rights or whatever before they do any of that sh*t”.
The officer — known officially as “UCO 67469834” — tried to reassure Sidaros that bikie gangs look after their members when the law comes knocking.
“Been pretty lucky with the mob I sort of work with up there,” the undercover officer said.
“They’ve f*cking looked after me a couple of times when it started to go south, and sorted it out.”
The watch-house recordings reveal Sidaros eventually opened up to his cellmate, describing how there had been a rift in the Comanchero, that he had sided against Mr Zdravkovic, “and a couple of the boys later on … one night we went to the pres’s house …”.
The undercover officer heaped praise on the 25-year-old Sidaros, saying what he had done was “the sort of loyalty you can’t find every day of the f*cking week”.
An edgy Sidaros, having effectively confessed, then questioned his cellmate, asking “You’re not an undercover cop are you?”
The officer replied: “I certainly f*cking hope not. It’s news to me.”
Sidaros then said: “They do that sh*t.”
The next morning, Sidaros and the officer discussed the possibility of the Comanchero and the officer’s fictitious gang doing business together, when Sidaros — who had no criminal record — agreed he was “starting big” with an attempted murder charge and would “get you a bit of, ah, kudos around the club”.
He said the other fully patched Comanchero were not at risk of being caught, because they hadn’t used their own guns in the shooting.
The officer then told Sidaros “Canberra cops are useless man”, prompting Sidaros to say: “Oh, they’re sh*t c*nts”.
Sidaros’s sentencing proceedings, before Chief Justice Helen Murrell, begin in January.
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