Luke Lembryk murdered after Tinder ‘robbery’, court hears
Luke Lembryk has become the ultimate example of the dangers of Tinder style hook-ups. The 29-year-old thought he was about to have a cocaine fuelled threesome, but one of his dates allegedly saw an opportunity to rob him, a court has heard. Police allege it led to his murder. READ THE TEXT MESSAGE EXCHANGE
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Luke Lembryk thought he’d hit the jackpot: he was about to have a cocaine party threesome with a Tinder date.
But police allege his flashy showing of cash and drugs during the liaison led to his murder after one of his dates tipped off an armed robbery gang that he was an easy target for a lucrative score.
The case against Lisa Anne Price, who has been charged with being an accessory before the fact to Lembryk’s murder, and her co-accused was set out in documents tendered in the NSW Supreme Court on Wednesday as part of a successful bail application by a man charged with concealing information from investigating police.
According to the documents, it was late August 2019 when Lembryk, a 29-year-old plumber, matched with the attractive Price.
They started texting, the documents said. Price wrote she planned to bring a friend to their liaison at his mother’s western Sydney home. One message even included a picture of the two women together, the documents said.
“Well god dam (sic) what is (this) gonna cost me for both (?) U name (price),” Lembryk wrote back.
Price allegedly replied: “You can’t put (a) price on women like us. Send the address and we will come now.”
Price clarified: “Your party and our party are different kinds of party, I guess … We were keen to hang out (but) we have respect for ourselves, we are not gangas.”
According to the documents, Price and her friend attended Lembryk’s Condell Park unit where all three did lines of cocaine from a freezer bag containing the drug.
Price’s friend asked her to “step out” to her car for 20 minutes so she could have sex with Lembryk, the documents said.
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While the trio were in his bedroom drinking and chatting, Lembryk was keen to show off. He waived around a stack of $50 notes containing up to $15,000, the documents said.
There was also a blazer hanging from the door that had large sums of cash spilling from the pocket.
Police allege the demonstration gave Price another idea.
After leaving Lembryk’s home, Price allegedly told her friend they should “do this guy over”, the documents said.
At one point there was a plan to convince Price’s friend to re-establish contact with Lembryk — or even be used as bait — because of their previous sexual encounter, the documents said.
“Look um, I want you to call Luke … can you just call him and ask him for a bag and organise to buy a bag off him,” the documents said Price allegedly told the other woman.
When this didn’t happen, Price allegedly tipped off another friend — a member of a group of alleged break and enter specialists from western Sydney — about the potential for them to rob Lembryk for up to $50,000 cash.
Police allege three of the gang raided Lembryk’s William St home in the early hours of December 7 and stabbed him to death.
The NSW Police Robbery and Serious Crime Squad formed Strike Force Browallia to investigate, which has so far charged seven people — including Price — with offences ranging from murder to lying to police.
In court, Kava’s lawyers Elias Matouk and Slade Howell told Justice Richard Cavanagh the case against Kava was weak because there was no evidence he knew the alleged murder had been committed, or that he had information that would have assisted police.
They also argued Kava, who will be defending the charge, would likely spend a lengthy period on remand before his trial in circumstances where the case is not strong.
The documents tendered to court show how prosecutors will allege Price attempted to re-establish contact with Lembryk following their initial meeting and set the chain of events that led to his death.
That contact allegedly came via text on September 13. But one week later Lembryk replied: “Who the f**k is this(?).”
Price allegedly replied: “You want to party? Me and you … Just the two of us … Party in the pants too,” the documents said.
According to the documents tendered to court, on the night of the murder, police intercepted a phone call between Price and one of the alleged killers, Joseph Nehme, where she appeared to be directing him to Lembryk’s home.
“You can see where the visitors park,” Price allegedly said on the call.
“It’s next to that, you’ll see his back gate on your left.”
The robbers broke into the unit through a side window by slashing a flyscreen. Lembryk’s mother was woken by a thumping noise in the living room and went to investigate.
They allegedly punched her and escaped empty-handed after failing to find the 29-year-old’s stash of cash.
Lembryk’s mother turned on the lights to see her son, who had been stabbed four times, bent forward and holding his blood covered stomach.
“I’m going to die mum, I’m going to die,” Lembryk said, according to court documents.
At 3.25am, Lembryk was pronounced dead. The official cause of death was a stab wound to the left side of his heart.
Police found a kitchen knife that was covered in Lembryk’s blood and missing its handle in front of a lounge in one of the rooms in the unit.
On December 10, police arrested and charged three men over the killing.
Nehme, 27, Bilal Rahim, 29, and Viliami Taufahema, 35, were all charged with murder.
Price was arrested on December 19 and charged with being an accessory before the fact to murder and being an accessory before the fact to assault with intent to rob.
In the hours after the killing, police intercepted a phone call where Nehme told Price: “We thinged him…,” the documents said.
Price asked “You all good?” and Nehme allegedly replied “Ah, the, wasn’t as straightforward as you said, huh?”, the documents said.
Later in the discussion, Price allegedly asked “So you didn’t get nothing?” and Nehme told her “Nothing, nothing, nothing”.
Price allegedly responded: “I told you, in the jacket behind the door … it’s like a blazer.”
According to the documents, Nehme said they tried looking there: “We grabbed the jacket, it wasn’t a jacket, it was a f**kin’ heap of shit there.”
Later in the conversation, Nehme allegedly said: “Big guy, he’s huge … my mate got him but, didn’t get anything but. F**ked up.”
The pair then arranged to meet up, but Nehme allegedly said: “There’s a job in Northbridge, I want to do it.”
When Price remarked to Nehme “Well come one, it’s your birthday”, he replied “Yeah, I know, I want money on my birthday, bro”, the documents said.
Nehme continued: “That was easy, we should have needed a few boys to hold him down, get the missus, everything. Anyway.”
Price allegedly asked: “So what was he strapped? Was he really strapped?”
“Yeah,” Nehme replied. “But he thing, so my mate went in and then he … walked to the door and then he ran back to his room, grabbed one, but he stabbed him. Anyways, I’ll tell you when I see you, bye.”
Nehme, Rahim and Taufahema are all charged with murder and multiple other offences, including assault with intent to rob with an offensive weapon.
The trio, and Price, have been refused bail and scheduled to face Burwood Local Court on August 12.