Widow of slain bikie Mick Hawi threatened to kill property developer: court
Two men charged over the murder of Mahmoud ‘Mick’ Hawi have argued that plenty of other people had reason to kill the Sydney bikie boss, a court heard.
Police & Courts
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Mahmoud ‘Mick’ Hawi’s grieving widow threatened to kill a wealthy Sydney property developer after the bikie boss was murdered, a court heard.
Prosecutors allege Yusuf Nazlioglu, 38, killed the ex-Comanchero chief with a volley of gunshots through the window of Hawi’s Mercedes 4WD two-and-a-half years ago.
Jamal Eljaidi, 32, was the alleged getaway driver for the hit, which was carried out in broad daylight as Hawi finished a gym workout at Rockdale Fitness First in February 2018.
Both men have pleaded not guilty to murder as their Supreme Court trial got underway on Tuesday.
Defence barrister Avni Djemal admitted Nazlioglou’s two-year friendship with Hawi had ended by April 2017, but stressed he was not the shooter captured on CCTV footage near the gym.
In his opening address, Mr Djemal said a number of other people had reason to murder Hawi.
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The court heard Hawi’s widow Carolina Gonzalez went to the home of wealthy property developer Eddie Haragli after the shooting and threatened to kill him.
“I didn’t mean it. I was angry, my husband had just died,” she tearfully told the jury.
“You thought that he had something to do with your husband, because your husband was trying to extort half a million out of him,” Mr Djemal said.
“No,” she said.
The widow said Mr Haragli and Khoda Kassira had “offered” her husband money, while his sister Zeinab Hawi told the court Mr Haragli had promised cash after Hawi “fixed a dispute.”
Ms Gonzalez agreed there had been tension between Hawi and his now exiled Comanchero successor Mark Buddle, but said it wasn’t “bikie related.”
She told police that in the weeks before the brazen daylight assassination, gang members had approached Hawi about reclaiming the national presidency.
The court also heard that around this time Ms Gonzalez noticed a suspicious car appearing outside the family home.
“Did Mick tell you to be wary because he’d been involved with the Vaiusu brothers and a big drug rip off?” Mr Djemal said.
“No,” Ms Gonzalez replied.
In June 2018 Peter Vaiusu and his brother Henry were charged over a massive stash of guns, drugs and $2.75 million worth of cash found in a south Sydney storage shed.
Ms Gonzalez said Nazlioglu and her husband formed a strong bond after he was released from prison in 2015.
“They became very close,” she tearfully told the court.
Ms Gonzalez said the pair saw each other everyday, with Nazlioglu coming to family barbeques and even helping pick up their children from school.
But the relationship began to sour, and in 2017 Hawi asked Nazlioglu to leave a Central Coast fishing trip, telling his wife “he embarrassed me,” the court heard.
“I said “I’m sure you’ll get over it”. My husband was very forgiving,” Ms Gonzalez said.
Ms Gonzalez said that night she and Nazlioglu’s wife found him eating alone at Brighton Le Sands, but Nazlioglu refused to speak to her.
“He asked me to leave him alone and to just walk away. He was angry,” she said.
“I asked (Hawi) if the friendship was over and he pretty much said yes, that he couldn’t handle his behaviour anymore.”
Nazlioglu allegedly shot the 37-year-old multiple times in the head, face and shoulder as he sat in his car on February 15, 2018.
The Crown alleges Eljaidi then drove Nazlioglu in a Silver Mercedes-Benz to a nearby street where the car was set on fire just after midday, before they jumped into a Silver Toyota Aurion.
Crown prosecutor Luigi Lungo told the jury that DNA evidence will prove both men had been inside the Aurion, while gunshot residue and DNA consistent with Nazlioglu’s profile was found on a balaclava stashed inside the car.
Some eyewitnesses reported a man wearing a balaclava at the scene, and although bystanders tried to help Hawi he died that afternoon at St George Hospital, the court heard.
The trial continues.