One of four men who killed Victor Codea at Adelaide High School revealed as son of infamous bikie
One of the Adelaide High School killers has been revealed as the son of an infamous, assassinated bikie – and a judge has slammed his 11th-hour claims of remorse.
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A man whose infamous bikie father was shot 20 times in a gangland assassination has shown “no remorse at all” for staging the violent and fatal Adelaide High School ambush, a judge says.
For the first time, The Advertiser can reveal ties between the notorious Finks outlaw motorcycle club and the manslaughter of Victor Codea after successfully overturning long- standing suppression orders.
On Friday, Supreme Court Justice Adam Kimber questioned the post-trial expressions of guilt by three of Mr Codea’s four killers, saying they were “not consistent with true remorse”.
One of the three, Kain Mazomenos – son of Finks and Mongols bikie Shane Bowden who was slain on the Gold Coast – told the court he felt “deeply sorry” for his role in killing Mr Codea, a drug dealer.
But under intense questioning from Justice Kimber, his counsel conceded Mazomenos’ membership in the Finks was “a background factor” in the assault upon Mr Codea.
Defence lawyer Nick Vadasz’s claims the ambush was “unplanned”, was supposed to be only a “robust discussion” and that pre-trial discussions about a potential guilty plea showed Mazomenos’ remorse, were rejected by Justice Kimber.
“I do not accept this was unplanned … he didn’t walk into this situation, he arranged it, he was one of the driving forces behind it,” he said.
“He had ample opportunity (to plead guilty) but he didn’t … you, Mr Vadasz, did not give up at trial on a complete acquittal nor the position of self-defence.
“The fact that he still maintains this occurred on the spur of the moment is rather demonstrative of the fact your client is not remorseful at all.”
At trial, the quartet were found not guilty of murder – Mazomenos, 25, Thomas Nichols, 31, and Thomas Pinnington, 25, were found guilty of manslaughter.
Jeremy Dale Sandell pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
In August 2020, they ambushed Mr Codea in response to his bad online reviews of drugs sold by Sandell, who was also known as “Winnie Blues”.
The men’s murder acquittals came after their counsel argued they were merely “bullies” and “keyboard warriors posturing” in the “underworld melee” of the drug culture.
On Friday, Mr Vadasz said Mazomenos spent the first 16 years of his life believing Bowden was dead, and went to live with his “violent and drug-affected father” upon his release on parole.
“His father was a strongarm man, an enforcer, a heavy drug-user … instead of giving him soft drink, Bowden would give him a line of drugs to snort,” he said.
“His life with his father was extremely violent … a month after he was arrested for this matter, his father was shot 20 times and murdered in an assassination in Queensland.”
Sandell and Nichols wrote, and Mazomenos and Pinnington read out, letters of apology to Mr Codea’s family – who did not attend court or provide victim impact statements.
Grant Algie KC, for Pinnington, denied his client was a Fink, stressed he “did not even know” Mr Codea prior to that night, and claimed had participated out of “impulsivity and stupidity”.
He said Pinnington now admitted he was the one who repeatedly kicked Mr Codea in the head – Justice Kimber questioned the value of that statement.
Sam McDonough, for Sandell, agreed with Justice Kimber that his client’s guilty plea had come “pretty late”.
The only explanation for his “violent and honestly unfathomable” conduct, he said, was as “some kind of transaction that occurs for people in the drug world”.
Jane Abby KC, for Nichols, said her client accepted it was difficult to prove his remorse but asked Justice Kimber accept “a change” in him “is developing, but is not complete”.
She said that, having been “devastated” by deaths in his own family, Nichols appreciated the gravity of what he had done to the Codeas.
She said Nichols was not a Fink but had a long history of offending and “knew himself to be” a criminal who was “up to violence”.
“Somewhat embarrassingly, he says this really was something that was ‘a night out’, unfortunately, for the man he was at the time,” she said.
Lisa Dunlop, prosecuting, said Mr Codea’s parents had “no interest in hearing, receiving nor accepting” the belated apologies.
“They sat through every day of the trial in this court, stoically and with considerable dignity, hearing evidence that must have been incredibly difficult to hear,” she said.
“The actions of these four men have taken from them their beloved son, their only child.
“There is no word in the English language for a person who loses their child because it’s utterly indescribable.”
She said the ambush was a very serious example of manslaughter and it did not matter the quartet were unarmed because “in the circumstances, they were the weapons”.
She urged caution over Mazomenos’ claims of having severed his ties with the Finks, saying police were still investigating.
“His commitment to that organisation is demonstrated by the number 13 tattooed on his face, which is still on his face as we speak,” she said.
Ms Dunlop said the evidence disputed Nichols’ claim that he was not a Fink.
“In the home he shared with Pinnington, police found Finks supporter wear and a ‘prospect’ vest,” she said.
“There was no supporter wear in the bedroom Pinnington occupied however, in the other (bedroom), there was.
“On that basis, we ask Your Honour to infer Nichols was at the time connected to the Finks and, potentially, a prospect(ive member).”
Justice Kimber remanded the quartet in custody for sentencing next month.
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Originally published as One of four men who killed Victor Codea at Adelaide High School revealed as son of infamous bikie
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