Paul Kingsbury was terrified ‘someone was going to jump him’ prior to likely murder in Geelong

A ruthless outlaw gang could have ordered the probable murder of Paul Kingsbury amid fresh revelations about the terror he was living under before he vanished.

Geelong man Paul Kingsbury was likely murdered. Photo: Supplied.

The brother of a missing Geelong man says it’s possible his likely murder was ordered by a ruthless outlaw bikie gang, amid new revelations about the terror he was living under before he vanished.

Jarrod Kingsbury says his brother Paul, who was declared dead by a Victorian Coroner in September, was “petrified of being killed” in the weeks before being kidnapped and held at gunpoint in a Moolap shed on the morning of July 6, 2012.

His body has never been found.

Mr Kingsbury, 27, had been mixing with plenty of shady characters and was once in a relationship with the daughter of a former Bandido’s president.

He was under investigation for stealing two firearms from a feared bikie member just prior to his disappearance, one of which lived close to the Larkins Lane property he was abducted from.

He’d also been in a confrontation with another gang member in the lead up to his shocking demise.

Kingsbury was last seen at this Larkins Lane property in Moolap.

“We had a fair idea of the circles he was mixing with,” Jarrod said.

“He was scared, he had been shot at.

“There was definitely a lot of fear there.”

Mr Kingsbury was battling an ice addiction and was well-known to police at the time of his almost certain murder.

A raid on his Leopold home in 2012 found two rifles with serial numbers removed, ammunition, a Holden ute with false interstate number plates and various chemicals and drug-related paraphernalia.

He was also convicted of bashing five taxi drivers in 2011 outside the Barwon Club Hotel in Geelong.

His brother claims he’d had a number of “run ins” with known crook and person of interest in the case, Aaron Burnie, in the lead up to his disappearance.

“Burnie shot at his car the week before all of this happened,” he said.

A Geelong court heard Kingsbury told an associate “someone was going to jump him” on the morning he was last seen alive.

SES volunteers search an area of North Shore in 2017 after a skull was found, at the time believed to be connected to the disappearance of Geelong man Paul Kingsbury.

His brother said the case would continue to haunt his family until justice was served, and was hoping a cash reward would be posted by Victoria Police to entice fresh leads.

A police spokeswoman said no monetary reward was available at this time.

“This is something we were warned about right at the very start from homicide (detectives), that this would just never go away,” he said.

“This is something that will go on for the rest of our lives now.

“But there’s enough evidence.”

In September, Coroner Leveasque Peterson stopped short of declaring the person or persons responsible for the death of Kingsbury, who was last seen being walked out of a shed by known criminal John Nelis, who was brandishing a sawn-off shotgun.

Nelis and John Kripintiris were originally arrested over his alleged kidnapping, only for the charges to be dropped prior to trial.

His disappearance remains one of Geelong’s most unnerving unsolved cases.

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Originally published as Paul Kingsbury was terrified ‘someone was going to jump him’ prior to likely murder in Geelong