Vergel Velasquez: Jeremy Smith fifth man charged over Girraween death
The fifth man charged with killing Vergel Velasquez in his western Sydney unit block was allegedly motivated by his ex girlfriend’s claims he was sexual assaulting her, a court has heard.
Parramatta
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The fifth man charged with killing Vergel Velasquez in his Girraween unit block just before New Year’s Eve allegedly did it as payback because he was sleeping with his ex girlfriend, a court has heard.
Granville man Jeremy Smith was arrested yesterday on his 39th birthday and charged with murder following a violent attack on 42-year-old Mr Velasquez on December 30.
Mr Velasquez was found left with head injuries in a stairwell at his Mia Mia St home before he died at Westmead Hospital a day later.
Last week, Lionel McGrady, 50, Leslie Fernando, 49, Shane Weatherall, 42, and Michael Porter, 41, were taken to Moree police station in northern NSW and charged with murder.
On Tuesday, Smith appeared via video link at Parramatta Local Court. He yawned, fidgeted and breathed heavily while in custody, and denied a connection to the incident.
Dressed in a black Tommy Hilfiger jumper, Smith told the court: “I did nothing. I didn’t touch anybody.’’
The court heard Smith denied being at Velasquez’s home the afternoon he was brutally attacked.
But police prosecutor Joel Fraser rejected Smith’s alibi and said he allegedly joined the co-accused and assaulted Velasquez because he was having sex with his defacto ex-girlfriend, Stacey Kelly Greenup.
The court heard the 34 year old woman accused Velasquez of sexually assaulting her but never reported the incident to police.
In court today, Smith’s legal aid representative Katerina Chandler applied for bail and told Magistrate Tim Keady her client needed to look after his family and that he was an Aboriginal man.
But Sgt Fraser opposed bail and discredited Smith’s Alibi: “I would say there’s a strong prosecution case because there’s a number of witnesses.
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Mr Keady described the incident as a joint enterprise of which Smith was allegedly a primary participant.
He told the court Smith had a lengthy criminal record including break and entering, and assaulting police.
Bail was refused and the matter was adjourned to Parramatta Local Court on August 20