Ricardo Barbaro arrested in glamorous Sydney woman’s penthouse

Following a bloody stand-off with murder accused Ricardo Barbaro in her penthouse, police are speaking to Sydney woman Crystal Shihada as they probe why the fugitive was in her apartment.

Police have spoken to Sydney woman Crystal Shihada over why interstate fugitive Ricardo Barbaro was at her penthouse when police finally arrested him in a bloody stand-off.

Ms Shihada was not home when the NSW Tactical Operation Unit stormed her seventh-floor apartment in the western Sydney suburb of Wentworth Point to arrest Barbaro about 1am Thursday.

Barbaro was arrested ten days after the body of his girlfriend Ellie Price was found in her South Melbourne home.

Police have confirmed the 27-year-old Ms Shihada was “assisting with inquiries” and that those “inquiries remain ongoing”.

But detectives have not come to a conclusion yet as to why Barbaro was at the apartment belonging to Ms Shihada.

Crystal Shihada is assisting police with inquiries following Ricardo Barbaro’s arrest.

Fugitive Barbaro’s 10 days on the run could have ended peacefully — instead he was a bloody mess by the time he was eventually arrested by tactical police inside Ms Shihada’s penthouse.

A nationwide manhunt for Barbaro, the brother of slain Sydney identity Pasquale Barbaro, began on May 4 when the body of his girlfriend, ­devoted mum Ellie Price, was found in her home. Police said Ms Price had been badly assaulted and may have been dead for five days before she was found.

Ellie Price, 26, was found murdered in her South Melbourne home.

Ricardo Barbaro is escorted to a prison van on Thursday. Picture: AAP

Her Mercedes-Benz was discovered 40km away and Victorian homicide detectives announced to the nation they were looking for Barbaro.

Just before 11pm on Wednesday, the NSW Robbery and Serious Crime Squad, backed by the Tactical Operations Unit, arrived at a plush new apartment block on Amalfi Dr, Wentworth Point, in Sydney’s northwest. The armed and heavily clad officers spent a good period trying to coax Barbaro out of unit 13126, according to neighbour Carmel.

“They said ‘Ricardo, we know you’re in there, you need to come out, I can assure you nothing will happen if you do what we tell you’.

“There were so many, I call them Ninja Turtles, it was­ ­really scary,” Carmel said. When they eventually beat the door in police found the unit completely empty.

Police stormed the building and found Barbaro in the young woman’s Amalfi Drive unit. Image / Monique Harmer

Barbaro was one floor up, in apartment 15121, the home of 27-year-old Crystal Shihada.

A dramatic scuffle allegedly erupted there as police tried to arrest Barbaro, who is believed to have smashed into a mirror and injured his face as he attempted to flee. The apartment was empty yesterday but signs of chaos remained inside.

Barbaro’s blood was still smeared on the floor beside soil scattered from a tipped-up pot plant. A candle still burnt and the TV was left on, while cigarettes and a bottle of spirits sat on the kitchen bench.

Barbaro was arrested and taken to Concord Hospital for treatment before being charged at Burwood Police Station with the Victorian warrant for murder.

It is understood Ms Shihada was not home at the time and there is no suggestion she was involved in any wrongdoing.

Barbaro was found in the penthouse of a young woman in this apartment block in Wentworth Point. Image / Monique Harmer)

Barbaro’s prominent lawyer Campbell MacCallum, based on the Gold Coast, yesterday told The Daily Telegraph “he received some injuries, facial injuries and some lacerations”.

“By all reports he was willing to surrender peacefully once they had announced their presence. Notwithstanding this peaceful offer of surrender, he has received some significant injuries,” the lawyer said.

Mr MacCallum said it had been a “difficult time” for the Barbaro family.

Wentworth Point resident Paul Noack told The Daily Telegraph he was “shocked” to wake up to news of the arrest.

“It’s a calm, peaceful community and to hear (he) was living in the community was a shock to us all,” Mr Noack said.

Sep Woang, who lives in the building where the arrest ­unfolded, said he saw three SWAT police swarm the ­property through the carpark.

Barbaro was arrested and transported to the local police station.

Campbell MacCallum confirmed he had been engaged by the family to represent Barbaro (pictured).

“When I went down to throw the garbage, the three fully-equipped SWAT police stormed the building like those people in the games. They were asking me how to get to the lower level,” he said.

Victorian detectives travelled to Parramatta Local Court yesterday where Magistrate Rodney Brender app­roved Barbaro’s extradition in a brief hearing.

Wearing tracksuit pants, a grey jumper and sporting a graze above his left eye, Bar­baro was led into a car and driven from Burwood Police Station about 3pm yesterday.

Barbaro, who greeted waiting media with a middle finger, is expected to be charged with murder in Melbourne and front court tomorrow.

Barbaro’s father Joe previously told the media he had not spoken with his son for five years. A fundraiser set up by friends of Ms Price is expected to pay for her body to be repatriated back to Tasmania, where she grew up.

Her cousin Rebecca Lehner posted to social media after the death saying she was “feeling furious” over the circumstances of her death. Ms Lehner said Ms Price had a “bright future” stolen from her.

“It’s not something any family should go through,” Ms Lehner said. “She had so much going for her, she was kicking those goals.”