Pitasoni Ulavalu death: Knife used in alleged bikie murder found as police fear reprisals
Tensions are high and police fear ongoing reprisals in Canberra’s underworld, with a fifth man arrested over a fight that led to the death of top bikie Pitasoni Ulavalu.
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A fifth man has been charged over the brawl which saw Canberra’s most powerful bikie killed, and a court has gone to unprecedented steps to stop potential reprisal attacks.
In the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday, Magistrate Beth Campbell banned from publication the 26-year-old’s name, as well as the name of the prominent lawyer defending him, after the lawyer raised fears about bikies laying in wait outside his office to enact revenge on his client’s family.
The man was charged with affray, did not enter a plea, and did not apply for bail, which formally refused.
Police allege he was among a group of men fighting at Kokomo’s nightclub on Bunda St in Canberra, during which Comanchero Canberra chapter president Pitasoni Ulavalu was stabbed in the neck.
Ulavalu collapsed and bled to death on the footpath.
The man’s appearance in court came on the same day police announced they had found the knife they believe Ulavalu was stabbed with.
The knife was found after a five-day “targeted search” in a storm drain just outside Canberra’s city centre.
Detective Superintendent Scott Moller said: “The discovery of the knife is a positive endorsement of our investigative strategy for this case”.
Frederick Elijah Mercy Tuifua, 26, of Silverwater in western Sydney, has been charged with Ulavalu’s murder.
Last week, in an apparent reprisal attack, Maximilian Kurt Ellis Budack was shot in the face.
After Budack underwent lifesaving surgery, he was charged with affray.
Budack’s shooting remains under investigation.
Also charged with affray are Matthew Kupu, 22, and Osaiasi Avanua Sydey Kupu, 23.
Neither the man who appeared in court on Thursday, nor any of the other men, have entered pleas.
Prosecutor Soraya Saikal-Skea told the court on Thursday that “tensions” remained high in Canberra’s underworld following Ulavalu’s killing.
A document outlining police concerns, which was tendered in court, and which prompted Ms Campbell to agree to the non-publication order, had not been released by the time of publication.
In a statement, police said they expect to make further arrests.
