Accused Buddhist temple killer ‘shot himself in leg’, getaway driver tells court
A protected witness told a court he drove his drugged-out crew from the scene of an alleged murder at a Buddhist temple meth den with one of the alleged shooters writhing in pain from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
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A protected witness has told a court he drove his drugged-out crew from the scene of an alleged murder at a Buddhist temple meth den with one of the alleged shooters writhing in pain from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
“Leonard Rivers”, an alias, told the NSW Supreme Court on Wednesday that he waited in a car parked on a Guildford West street in February 2017 as his friend Ying “Johnny” Luo and other men walked into the unassuming suburban home.
Rivers told the jury Luo carried a handgun and a second man carried a rifle.
The former drug addict has told the jury he had previously lived at the Kennedy St home.
The house was unassuming on the outside, he said, while inside it was filled with Buddhist statues and served as a temple.
But it also doubled as a meth house for a drug importer, Rivers had told the court.
Luo allegedly called Rivers a few minutes after entering the house, telling him to pick him up from around the corner.
The driver also told the court he saw a police car rushing toward him with lights and sirens blaring.
“Johnny came to the car quite quickly,” Rivers told the court on Wednesday.
Luo, Abdallah “Abs” Albatat and two others are charged with murder, with prosecutors alleging they shot a man dead inside the temple, and attempted murder of a second man who was shot and survived.
But Luo was injured as well, Rivers said.
“He said ‘the gun went off in my pocket, I’ve shot myself in the leg’,” the witness told the court. “I said ‘are you alright’. He said ‘yeah it f...ing kills, just drive’.”
Luo allegedly told Rivers they would drop the guns at a friend’s home, before he grabbed a T-shirt to try and stop his own bleeding and began scrounging for some heroin.
Rivers said Luo eventually got medical help while Rivers scored some heroin for the injured man and packed up his apartment so they could lay low.
On Tuesday, Rivers told court that some weeks before the Buddhist temple incident Luo had taken up a $50,000 contract to shoot a man who allegedly stole 3kg of methamphetamine.
Rivers said Luo had dubbed Albatat “sick c…” when Albatat allegedly offered to carry out the $50,000 hit alone.
Albatat, who Rivers said looks like soul singer Prince, allegedly told Luo and the crew he would definitely hit the target. But the man survived the alleged ambush.
Albatat and Luo are charged with his attempted murder.
The trial continues.
Sept 15, 2020: ‘Man who looked like Prince’ offered to carry out murder: court
A court has heard a young man, who looked like soul singer Prince, was dubbed a “sick c …” when he told a mate he’d carry out a $50,000 contract killing linked to a group who frequented a Buddhist temple meth house.
Leonard Rivers — an alias — was spared jail time in exchange for evidence in the complex investigation of two shootings linked to a suburban home that allegedly doubled as a spiritual temple in Sydney’s west.
The drug dealer, who is serving a two-year prison term in the community, told the NSW Supreme Court he had been dabbling in cocaine and ice when he met Ying “Johnny” Luo in late 2014.
The suburban home was allegedly owned by Luo’s own drug boss — a man called “Sifu” which is the Chinese word for “master” — Rivers told the court.
It was unassuming on the outside, but inside it was a meth den filled with Buddhist statues and decorations, the court heard.
“That was where the ice was kept,” Rivers told the court on Tuesday.
While there Rivers met Abdallah “Abs” Albatat, who he said was in his early 20s, slightly built and who looked a bit like the famous singer, Prince.
By late 2016 Rivers was heavily into cocaine and Luo had moved into a Burwood apartment.
It was there Luo allegedly told Rivers he’d taken up a $50,000 contract to kill “a dog” who stole three kilograms of ice.
But Luo didn’t want to sit outside the apartment the target was eventually tracked to, Rivers said.
Sitting in the Burwood apartment, Rivers told the court, Luo brought out a handgun with an orange plastic-looking handle. He was using tools to stop it jamming when fired, Rivers said.
At some stage Albatat had taken up the contract, Rivers said, recounting an alleged conversation between Albatat and Luo.
“(Albatat) said I want to do this by myself,” Rivers said.
“Are you sure? … What a sick c …,” Luo allegedly responded.
Luo’s glowing compliment was echoed the following day, Rivers said, when Luo took a phone call from someone.
“You got him?” Luo allegedly asked the person on the other end of the phone.
“Sick c …, come home, come over here.”
Crown Prosecutors allege Albatat had carried out a shooting but his target lived to tell the tale — Albatat and Luo are now charged with the attempted murder of the man.
Days later, after scouring media reports for information about the shooting, Rivers said Luo was told “Abs missed the guy”.
“How do you know?” Rivers told the court he asked Luo.
“I got a text number from a number I don’t know saying ‘hahaha’,” Luo allegedly told him.
Albatat, Luo and two other men are also facing a murder charge related to another man and an attempted murder of a third man.
The trial continues.