Abdulraham Atteya, Mohammed Baltagi, Mohammed Khaled face trial over 2022 murder of Yusuf Nazlioglu

State prosecutors are currently delivering their opening statements in the case of three men accused of murdering Sydney man Yusuf Nazlioglu, with the crown alleging the killing was connected to the theft of two luxury vehicles.

Yusuf Nazlioglu was gunned down in the underground carpark of a Rhodes apartment block in June 2022. Picture: Supplied

A jury has been shown dramatic CCTV footage of the moment a gunman pumped eight bullets into acquitted bikie murderer Yusuf Nazlioglu inside the underground carpark of a Rhodes apartment block, fatally wounding him.

The footage, aired in the opening minutes of Nazlioglu’s murder trial in the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday morning, recorded a man running across an open area of the carpark on June 27, 2022 and firing on Nazlioglu as he got out of a parked Mercedes Benz.

The court heard Nazlioglu was peppered with at least eight bullets during the frenzied attack.

Nazlioglu’s then-wife, Jade Heffer, was in the car at the time but escaped injury and managed to use her mobile phone to record a grey Volkswagen as it left the carpark, carrying two assailants.

Yusuf Nazlioglu, pictured with his then-wife, Jade Heffer. Picture: Supplied

Nazlioglu was rushed to hospital but died the following day from head and torso wounds.

Three men - Abdulrahman Mohamed Atteya, Mohammed Baltagi and Mohammed Hosni Khaled - are facing trial charged with his murder.

In his opening address to the jury on Tuesday, Crown prosecutor Eric Balodis said it would be alleged Atteya was one of two men in the Volkswagen that day, with the pair acting out a “carefully prepared and detailed plan” to kill Nazlioglu over his alleged theft of two high-end Mercedes vehicles.

He said the crown could not establish which of the two men was the alleged shooter and which was the driver, but said the crown case was that both were acting as part of a joint criminal enterprise to have Nazlioglu murdered.

The court heard the second man left Australia in the days after the shooting and has never returned.

Abdulrahman Mohammed Atteya is one of three men on trial, charged with murdering Nazlioglu.

Meanwhile, it is alleged Baltagi and Khaled were not at the scene at the time of the shooting but had been involved in organising and placing a series of getaway vehicles, including a pair of $4,000 e-scooters, prior to the killing that had assisted Atteya and the second man in escaping undetected.

Mr Balodis said he expected the jury would see extensive CCTV footage allegedly showing the movements of each co-accused in both the lead-up to the shooting and its aftermath, including the burning of the getaway car.

Jurors were told the crown would allege Nazlioglu had recently been released from prison after being acquitted over the murder of Comanchero bikie boss Mick Hawi and was “looking for ways to make money” while living in an apartment block in Rhodes with Ms Heffer.

The court heard the pair hired two expensive Mercedes Benz cars - an E-class and a G-class - through a hire company called Sydney Luxury Hire, which facilitates the short-term rental of vehicles owned by other people.

Homicide detectives arrested Atteya in June 2023. Picture: NSW Police

Ms Heffer left her licence details, including the Rhodes address, at the company’s Lansvale depot when they picked the vehicles up.

Nazlioglu failed to return the cars, which the crown alleges was the motive behind his murder.

“We’re not going to lead any evidence that they [Atteya, Baltagi and Khaled] had any personal animosity towards Mr Nazlioglu,” Mr Balodis told jurors.

“So the motive we say has connection to these cars and to the evidence we have of [their] associations.

“Regardless of what the reason was for the death of Yusuf Nazlioglu … the Crown maintains that it was these three who carried it out for some unknown person who had an antipathy towards Yusuf Nazlioglu.”

However, defence barrister David Dalton SC, appearing for Atteya, told jurors his client denied playing any part in the murder.

He said he expected they would hear evidence that Nazliglou had believed “a number of people” wanted to kill him in the months prior to his death.

“It will be my argument at the end of these proceedings that the crown’s circumstantial case does not meet the necessary test [of beyond reasonable doubt],” he said.

Barristers for Khaled and Baltagi said their clients also denied any involvement in the murder and urged the jury to listen carefully to all the evidence before coming to any conclusions.

The trial, which is expected to last up to seven weeks, continues before Justice Deborah Sweeney.