Robbie Parry murder: Inside story of how police nabbed Daniel Petryk for a pointless crime
The murder or Robbie Parry was hard to fathom. His robbers made off with $50 worth of cannabis and some smokes. Read the never-before-told story of how detectives caught the culprits.
Newcastle
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When you talk about low-level drug dealers, Robbie Parry sat right at the bottom of the cannabis pile.
Much like his penchant to collect empty glasses at his local in return for a few schooners, Parry’s dip into the drug dealing world was less a money-making venture and more a bit of supplementary income to keep the supply of the green vegetable matter coming.
The rolling of a collective community joint, if you will. He only sold tiny amounts to his friends, and sometimes to friends of friends.
So when murder came knocking on the open door of his Wickham home in 2015, no one could work out why he had been targeted.
Parry was not a rich man. He never had bags and bags of dope in his house. And the cash flow was weak at best.
From his elderly and frail father who saw him lying in their lounge room bleeding to death from a single shot to his stomach, to his friends and even the cops, this was a senseless and brutal crime in the extreme.
Now, just months after his killer lost his last avenue of appeal and only months before a second man, who admitted to being at the scene after being acquitted of Parry’s murder, is eligible for parole, this is the never-before-told story of how detectives were able to cut through the Newcastle underworld to solve a case which remains pointless.
WHEN ROBBERY BECOMES MURDER
DANIEL Petryk was only slight of build but with a growing reputation for violence. Extreme violence.
Brought up in Lake Macquarie’s community of battlers in Windale, Petryk was a mildly successful standover man. He had fallen foul of the law a few times. But not for his biggest and worst crimes. His modus operandi was targeting drug dealers.
Petryk knew he could threaten them for the cash they had earned through illicit means. And if they needed a touch-up to persuade them, so be it.
He rightly knew that the majority of his victims would never go to police about being targeted. They didn’t want any legal blowback on their nefarious activities. And they were scared of Petryk and other reprisals which may come their way.
So Petryk, along with his burgeoning reputation, was left to ply his vicious trade without much concern for getting caught.
And so it was, in March 2015, that Petryk had placed Robbie Parry into his sights.
He had known through a relative that Parry had dealt cannabis from his Wickham home.
He wrongly suspected he would have bags of the drug in his house and cash to boot.
As a target, Parry was not an issue. He may have held his own, but he was 41 and lived with – and cared for – his ailing father.
Parry also had a habit of letting his friends know if he had some gear. He would leave the door to his Dickson St home open, even late at night, as a sign that anyone looking for a smoke could get one.
And Petryk was growing more and more paranoid about going back to jail.
He had breached his parole conditions and knew authorities were looking for him. He knew he needed some quick cash and to split, probably to Queensland where he had family.
It was the only way to keep Probation and Parole officers at a distance and, with it, another stint in the big house.
And so, on the evening of March 6, Petryk summoned the help of an associate, Jesse Nikolovski.
Nikolovski also had a history. He had been in trouble as a late teen and wouldn’t shy away from things. But he had no idea what was about to happen – at least that is what a court would later find.
Nikolovski and a woman – whom we shall call The Girl – travelled to Windale to meet up with Petryk.
The trio went for a drive in a car belonging to one of Nikolovski’s relatives (that would become crucial later) before Petryk told Nikolovski to head to Redhead so that he could “grab something”.
That something was a sawn-off .22 calibre rifle, left hidden in a bag concealed next to a residential fence line, and was only minutes away from becoming a murder weapon.
The Girl would later tell a court that the first time either she or Nikolovski knew Petryk was getting a gun was when he pulled it from the bag as they drove off.
She said Nikolovski cracked it at Petryk, becoming “angry” and “freaking out” that it was in the car. But they continued to drive.
It was during the trip that Petryk told them of his cunning plan – that he knew of a house where a relative used to buy pot and where the door was left open. Petryk told them he would sneak in and “grab the pot” and when the chat reverted back to the gun, Petryk said he would use it “to look scary” in case they were disturbed.
He then showed them the way to Robbie Parry’s house. But not before one last detour.
The Girl would later say they stopped on a “really long road” where Petryk got out of the car and the pair remained inside, arguing about the course of events.
She said she heard a bang from outside the car, but there was never any evidence about what caused the sound or even if Nikolovski heard it.
And that would be crucial, at least for Nikolovski. Because a judge would later direct a jury to acquit him of murder because it could not be established that the gun was either loaded or even in working order.
The prosecution argued Petryk had used this opportunity to load the rifle and test fire it. The judge said the evidence fell short of that.
Even so, Petryk knew the gun was working and knew he had ammunition. After picking up the bag from the Redhead home, he had to put the gun back together – the bolt was not in place. He even rang his mate to ask him how to use it.
As they sat parked on the long road, The Girl went to the boot and got two pairs of gloves and other items which they would use to disguise their faces.
They were in for the robbery.
It was just before 3am when they parked around the corner from Robbie Parry’s home.
Each donned their disguises with Petryk holding the gun. He took an axe from the boot and tried to give it to Nikolovski. But when he refused, The Girl took it instead.
And off they trudged into the night.
The plan was to sneak in and take any cannabis they could find without even disturbing anyone.
It may have been 3am but Robbie Parry’s door was still open and one light was on. Was he still open for business?
Petryk led the way inside followed by The Girl, passing through an enclosed veranda and into the lounge room by a step or two. Nikolovski, according to The Girl, was probably at the entrance to the lounge room.
But they had already been sprung.
Parry, who had been in his bedroom at the back of the house, walks out of his room and down a hall. He is still holding a drink in one hand when he sees the masked intruders and tells them to “f … off out of my house’’.
Parry heads to Petryk and raises his hand, holding the can as if to push or punch him. The gun fires and Parry is hit in the stomach at very close range. The evidence suggested the muzzle was between 40cm and 75cm from him.
Nikolovski yells at Petryk to get out. The Girl, hearing Parry make horrific sounds as he collapses, runs to the car.
But as Parry is bleeding to death on the lounge room floor – and as his frail father, Alan, emerges to see what all the commotion is about – Petryk’s callous disregard comes through.
He is still looking for the dope, stepping over or around the wounded Robbie Parry. He yells at both men to tell him where the cash and drugs are. And when Alan Parry says he didn’t know, Petryk tells him “you’re next’’.
All Petryk gets is a small amount of cannabis and some cigarettes.
They meet at the car, The Girl throws the axe into a drain, and they speed off as Nikolovski calls Petryk “an idiot”. According to The Girl, Petryk said the gun wasn’t loaded.
So how the hell was the bloke shot.
Either way, Petryk assures them Parry won’t die because he only shot him in the stomach. But he would die.
Petryk gives the pair some cigarettes and heads off with the cannabis.
They would meet the following day and he hands over $50 for the sale of the dope. The robbery, where a man is shot dead, is done for $50 and a handful of darts.
HUNT FOR A KILLER
WITHIN hours of the shooting, detectives get their first big break. Witnesses tell of seeing three people running around the corner and getting into a white Holden Commodore.
CCTV from two businesses catch the Holden Commodore and it is quickly tracked back to a relative of Nikolovski.
But you just don’t go knocking on doors because of a car. You need hard evidence. And you need to be calculating.
The axe is found in the drain and sent away for testing. Within four weeks, it returns with a DNA hit to The Girl. She is known to be close to Nikolovski, so the car proves on the mark. And the evidence starts to mount.
Strike Force Telagaree know they may know who two of the people are. But who is the third? Petryk’s name hasn’t even been brought up.
Nikolovski’s past brings up any number of possible suspects with the propensity to commit such a crime.
And Nikolovski has headed to Sydney to get into more badness.
Within six weeks of the Robbie Parry shooting, Nikolovski has joined a crew that are doing armed robberies on pubs in Sydney’s inner west. One every 10 days or so, getting tens of thousands of dollars each time.
Four robberies between mid-April and late May.
But they are going through it too. Renting out penthouses, betting up big at the casino, buying coke and splashing cash on high-end prostitutes.
Strike Force Telagaree become aware of the robberies and let the robbery squad know.
And as Nikolovski and his crew head to do another stick up, this time at Annandale on June 16, the cops pounce.
Nikolovski somehow gets away but is picked up later that night following a short siege.
He continued the stand-off to ring relatives to tell them he was going back inside before walking out and giving himself up.
His arrest gives detectives more time to nominate Petryk as being the shooter without showing their hand to Nikolovski.
Petryk had jumped on an XPT to Queensland within days of the shooting and remained up there for some time before returning. He too was to go behind bars for other crimes, this time after being found hiding under a house at Belmont during a burglary.
But Strike Force Telagaree detectives wanted the murder weapon. And they thought up a strategy to get it.
They conducted a series of search warrants on Petryk’s home and his known associates. They wanted them to start talking about getting rid of the rifle.
And it worked. Some smart work from an analyst sends them to a house at Redhead. And the gun was found. Ballistics would match it with the Robbie Parry murder.
The Girl decides she will turn prosecution witness for indemnity from prosecution. Petryk and Nikolovski are charged with murder.
But during their trial, the judge directs the jury to acquit Nikolovski after ruling the prosecution failed to prove that he knew the gun was loaded and in working order.
He would then admit to the robbery and, along with the other pub robberies, is sentenced to just over eight years. He is due for parole later this year.
And the jury finds Petryk guilty of murder. He appeals but his last chance at overturning the verdict was quashed last year when the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal dismisses it.
He was jailed for 26 years and will not be eligible for parole until 2035.
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