Who really murdered Nik ‘The Russian’ Radev?

Twenty years ago, the greedy, Versace wearing gangster Nik “The Russian” Radev was lured to a meeting and blasted into the afterlife. But who pulled the trigger?

Mourners carry Nik Radev’s gold casket from the church.

Executed drug lord Nik “The Russian” Radev was killed by two of the gangland war’s most prolific hit men.

This is the view of underworld insiders and police investigators who probed the hit which sparked a deeper look into a series of unsolved gangland killings playing out as the market for amphetamines exploded in Melbourne.

Radev, a greedy, ill-tempered man, was lured to his death by the prospect of confronting a speed cook in Coburg.

The Bulgarian-born former wrestler, who arrived in Australia as a political refugee, was too egotistical to register Carl Williams was setting him up to be killed.

Twenty years ago Saturday, on April 15, 2003, the Versace wearing gangster was blasted into the afterlife.

Officially, the case remains unsolved.

There is little doubt, however, that Williams ordered the hit and that his mate, Andrew Veniamin, was one of the men who pulled the trigger.

The other suspected triggerman was a gangland gun for hire who has commonly been referred to as “The Runner”.

Detectives who arrived at the scene in Queen St recalled Radev’s body was riddled with bullets fired from two different guns and it was remarked he looked like “Swiss cheese”.

Although many would have been glad to see him gone, the suspect list was never long.

Greed and ego played a part in luring Radev to his death.

Many would have been glad to see the back of Radev.

Radev, who had immigrated from Bulgaria in 1981, had taken his intimidatory ways too far and Carl Williams was never going to have his safety, or his wallet, compromised.

There was also the fear factor. Radev was terrifying.

And that’s probably why he had to go.

With a reputation like Radev’s, the underworld knew it was kill or be killed.

No one was safe because Radev had no limits. In one instance, Radev stuck a gun in a girl’s mouth as a warning to her father to pay up.

Radev’s relationship with Williams was lucrative. But he was angered at the quality of a batch of speed which had been produced by Williams’ drug cook with chemicals supplied by Radev.

A key Williams associate, who we will call “Mr Thomas”, was also “jumping” on top of the gear, slang for skimming off the top by cutting the drugs and lessening its purity.

But when “The Russian” smoked it, it turned black and a meeting was ordered.

At least one meeting was held in a Brunswick pub, in which Williams and his father, George, were present. It ended without bloodshed.

What Radev really wanted was to meet the cook – a prized asset of any criminal organisation.

And the clock was ticking.

The Williams camp sensed Radev would get even and hatched a plan to shoot the gangster as he lay on St Kilda beach, one story goes.

But, as Veniamin and a senior drug cook sat in a car watching, ready for action, the cook aborted the hit.

There would be no more hiccups, however, as Williams was hearing Radev was talking about “offing” him.

In the hours before Radev’s murder, players from both the Radev and Williams camps met at the Brighton Baths.

Carl Williams with his deadly mate Andrew Veniamin.

Radev, who lived nearby, and key associate Mark Mallia were present, as was a key Williams drug dealing colleague.

They then went on a car ride in two cars which would end in Queen St, Coburg.

Radev walked to a house but returned to his Mercedes Benz to get a cigar. It was the last thing he did.

Veniamin was named by a coronial inquest as the killer. The Runner, who would later become a key witness for police against Williams over other gangland crimes, was overlooked.

Some swear The Runner did the killing and Veniamin began shooting rounds into Radev’s body after he was already dead.

It’s alleged The Runner had a gripe with Radev, who had tried to burn him to death in prison.

Radev’s death came as a relief to rivals.

One former organised crime investigator said Radev was motivated purely by money.

“He wanted an earn and would not hesitate to hurt anyone who got in his way,” the officer said.

“He was a complete arsehole. Live by the sword, die by the sword.

“That was the world he lived in … dog eat dog. But a bigger dog won.”

The Radev killing was the catalyst for the formation of the Purana taskforce.

There had already been moves to form a dedicated unit as the death toll mounted but Radev’s execution led to it being set up within weeks.

Police knew to be wary of Radev.

When officers Gary Silk and Rodney Miller were murdered at Moorabbin in 1998, he was one of those who came under the microscope.

Radev, who arrived in Australia in 1981, would later come to butt heads with organised crime detective Ben Archbold.

Mr Archbold – now a top Sydney lawyer – had investigated Radev over an extortion in which he demanded former prison buddy Sedat Ceylan hand over $120,000 or his family would die.

Celyan would later be tortured for hours in the Stamford Plaza hotel, before being dangled from the seventh storey.

Don Hany plays Nik Radev in a scene from Scene from Underbelly.

The gangster also had an eye for luxury brands.

A group of men who gathered for a card game at a Box Hill North cafe got a taste of Radev violence one night in March, 1991.

The private gathering was disrupted when two men wearing overalls and balaclavas stormed in via a back door and confronted the group of up to 10.

The raiders were carrying two guns, a revolver described as being of the type used by police, and a long-arm weapon.

The victims were ordered to lie on the floor and two were belted to the back of the head with the handgun.

Among the items stolen were a Patek Philippe men’s watch with a dodgy winder, the same type of timepiece pawned for $1000 by Radev’s former wife in Collingwood a month later.

In July of that year, Radev was arrested at Heidelberg where police carrying out a search of his flat found two guns.

One of them was a sawn-off Winchester shotgun and the other, a court heard, was a Smith and Wesson .38 calibre revolver of the type used by police.

Radev’s name would later be invoked after his death as one Melbourne crime figure tried to beat an attempted murder charge.

The accused claimed an enraged Radev arrived at his flat on an evening in 2002 with a mini arsenal, producing a .32 calibre Browning pistol and another weapon.

Radev, the accused testified, demanded he shoot a victim before his eyes.

“Mr Radev produced an automatic rifle and threatened to kill you if you did not shoot (the victim) in the head with the pistol,” the court heard.

Radev, the man testified, watched from the lounge room window as he walked outside and shot the target on the nature strip, though there was evidence contradicting that claim.

True or not, this kind of behaviour would not have been out of character for Radev.

He was the subject of two rape complaints when he died.