‘I knew he’d be dead’: Widow Jade Jeske gives evidence in Yusuf Nazlioglu murder trial

Yusuf Nazlioglu’s widow, Jade Jeske, has recounted the moment her husband was shot eight times in front of her, but admits she could not see the shooter’s face and does not know their identity.

Yusuf Nazlioglu, pictured with his then-wife Jade. Ms Jeske gave evidence on Thursday in the trial of her former husband’s alleged killers.

The widow of a man acquitted of a bikie murder has told of the moment her former husband was fatally shot inside the underground carpark of their Rhodes apartment block, revealing she was forced to take an elevator five levels up to the ground floor to call for help.

Jade Heffer, who now goes by the name Jade Jeske, was sitting in the passenger seat of a parked Mercedes Benz when a gunman opened fire on her then-husband Yusuf Nazlioglu while he was standing beside the car on the evening of June 27, 2022.

Nazlioglu, who had only been released from custody a few months earlier after being acquitted of the murder of Comanchero bikie boss Mick Hawi, was hit in the torso and head.

He died in hospital the following day.

Three men — Abdulrahman Mohamed Atteya, Mohammed Baltagi and Mohammed Hosni Khaled — are facing trial in the NSW Supreme Court after pleading not guilty to a charge of murder.

Jade Heffer, now Jeske, was in the car when her then-husband Nazlioglu was gunned down. Picture: Nikki Short

Prosecutors allege Nazlioglu’s killing was motivated by his theft of a luxury Mercedes, and that Atteya, Baltagi and Khaled carried out the “well planned” act as part of a joint criminal enterprise on behalf of unknown people who had animosity towards Nazlioglu.

In her evidence to the court on Thursday, Ms Jeske said she and Nazlioglu had spent the day of his murder buying jewellery and relaxing at a solarium before having an early dinner at a restaurant in Liverpool.

Prosecutors allege Nazlioglu’s failure to return a luxury vehicle to its owner is linked to his June 2022 murder.

They returned to the Rhodes apartment and drove down to the level five basement, where Ms Jeske reversed the car into her designated parking spot.

Ms Jeske said Nazlioglu had gotten out of the car and was opening the rear door to get his bag from the backseat when she noticed someone running towards the vehicle.

She said the man was wearing pants and a jumper, had his head covered so she couldn’t see his face, and was carrying a small handgun, which was pointed towards Nazlioglu.

Ms Jeske said she heard about eight shots fired in quick succession, then a pause, followed by two more shots, before the gunman ran back through the parked cars and got into a waiting Volkswagen Golf.

Ms Jeske hid under the dash but managed to get her phone out and make a recording of the car as it drove off.

Prosecutors allege Atteya was either the gunman or the driver.

Ms Jeske said it was only after the car left that she was able to turn around and see what had happened to Nazlioglu.

“He was lying on his back,” she said.

“And gauging by the amount of shots that I heard, and the succession that they were fired in, being eight in a break and two, (I knew) only that he was going to be dead.

“I didn’t go and touch him or go over to him. I looked at him.”

Abdulrahman Atteya is one of three men charged with murder over Nazlioglu’s death. Picture: Craig Wilson

Ms Jeske said there was no phone reception in the basement levels in the building, forcing her to take the lift five levels up to the ground floor to call emergency services.

Clinging to life, Nazlioglu was rushed to hospital but died the following day.

Meanwhile, Ms Jeske told the court in the weeks before the shooting, she and Nazlioglu had hired two expensive Mercedes Benz cars - an E-class and a G-class - through a hire company that facilitates the short-term rental of vehicles owned by other people.

However, prosecutors allege Nazlioglu failed to return the E-class, with the court told he had taken it to a friend’s mechanic shop at Prestons in an attempt to have the GPS tracker removed.

The jury was shown CCTV footage of four men attending the Rhodes apartment and retrieving the vehicle.

Ms Jeske said she later saw the car’s owner live-streaming on his TikTok account and recognised the location as Castlereagh Street in the Sydney CBD.

The court heard Ms Jeske and Nazlioglu drove to the location, with CCTV footage showing Nazlioglu hop out of Ms Jeske’s car and get into the E-class, using a key they still had, before driving away.

The trial, before Justice Deborah Sweeney, continues.

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