Marrickville barber shop shooting victims William and Eric Siale’s crime friendships revealed
The city’s underworld is on edge after the failed barber shop assassination of two brothers, one of which may never walk again.
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The failed barber shop assassination of two brothers with links to bikie gangs and crime figures has the city’s underworld on edge, with fears the ongoing war could erupt just like it did in the middle of 2022.
William, 33, and Eric Siale, 20, were at Adel’s salon on busy Marrickville Rd at Marrickville, in the city’s trendy inner-west, when a balaclava-clad gunman burst in and opened fire about 1.50pm last Friday.
Police sources said William – also known as “Tonga” – was a fully patched member of the Bandidos bikie gang and had been a close associate of Comanchero bikie Fares Abounader before his death in 2020, while Eric was a friend of several slain members of the Hamzy clan.
Despite their friendships, The Daily Telegraph is not suggesting they were involved in organised crime.
NSW Police said on Friday they are investigating links between the attack and the killing of Alen Moradian at Bondi Junction, but The Daily Telegraph is in no way suggesting the Siale brothers were involved, in fact underworld sources discounted that idea.
“Tonga’ has been around for a long time, he was good mates with Fares (Abounader),” one source said.
“(Eric) was also close to all the dead Hamzys from the last few years. Who knows why they have been shot at though, it could just be isolated.
“People are saying this may be a shot at the Bandidos to make it look like retaliation for Moradian, because they weren’t involved in that.
“We have seen throw offs from time to time, to make police think they’re involved in a hit.”
It is unclear if William will walk again, having been shot not only in the buttock but also in the spine.
After shooting William, the gunman turned and shot Eric in the chest, before running out of the salon and hopping in a waiting silver Kia Stinger that was minutes later found burnt out in a laneway – before the two accomplices got in a white Toyota HiLux they drove to Dulwich Hill.
They then set that car on fire and sped into the afternoon in a white Toyota Camry, with the number plate DMM59H, which remains outstanding.
The failed attempt on the lives of the brothers, 10 days after the assassination of Comanchero heavyweight Moradian, and off the back of Marvin Oraiha’s orchestrated killing in Elizabeth Hills in May has led many to compare it to the middle of 2022.
Mahmoud “Brownie” Ahmad, Omar Zahed, Rami Iskander and Yusuf Nazligolu were all shot dead between April and July last year.
“Sydney is on fire right now,” one source said.
“It is just like it was in the middle of last year, it may even be worse actually.
“You’ve got players sitting overseas, big players who are not even from Australia, running a proxy-war here because our drug market is just so profitable. It is a scary.”
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