By Josefine Ganko
Two teenagers charged with the murder of 21-year-old Luke Manassa in Sydney’s west last week were allegedly contracted to commit the fatal stabbing and may have targeted the wrong person.
Manassa and his girlfriend had arrived at a home on Driftwood Drive in Pemulwuy just before 10.45pm on June 26 when two attackers who had been lying in wait ambushed Manassa, stabbing him multiple times in the chest.
Luke Manassa spoke about entrepreneurship on a 2023 podcast episode.Credit: YouTube
Police said the two assailants were dressed in dark clothing and disguises, and were both armed with machete-style hunting knives.
Manassa then attempted to drive away in his ute but made it only a few hundred metres down Driftway Drive before he was overcome by his injuries, police say. Paramedics tried to revive him, but he died at the scene.
Police executed early morning search warrants on Thursday and arrested a 17-year-old boy from South Penrith and a 16-year-old boy from Mount Druitt.
Both young males are known to police for violent offending, and are linked to western Sydney street gangs, police say. The 17-year-old was out on bail and in breach of his court-imposed curfew at the time of the attack.
The car police believe was the getaway vehicle.Credit: NSW Police
The teenagers were both charged with murder and remain behind bars after being refused bail. Both teens will appear before a children’s court on Friday.
During a third search at a separate residence in Woodcroft, police seized a red car they believe was used as the getaway car in the alleged murder.
Police believe several other people were present during the stabbing of Manassa, and that the boys were probably contracted to conduct the killing. Police have yet to identify a particular group or individual who might have ordered the attack.
Police at the crime scene of a fatal stabbing on Driftway Drive, corner of Cherribit Street, Pemulwuy.Credit: Louise Kennerley
“It was very, very amateurish, and it certainly assisted our investigation,” Detective Superintendent Joseph Doueihi said at a press conference on Friday.
The attack comes amid a wave of youth crime in Sydney, and just days after two 15-year-old boys, who were allegedly recruited by Sydney’s warring gangland, were charged over alleged shootings on separate Sydney homes that narrowly missed killing people sleeping inside.
Doueihi said Manassa’s death was not linked to the series of shootings associated with an internal feud in a prominent Sydney organised crime network, which is now the subject of an investigation under Strike Force Falcon.
“If anything, I’d call this disorganised crime,” he said.
“It does not have the hallmarks of what we’ve seen in other [alleged] organised crime murders, where they use multiple high-performance stolen vehicles and semi-automatic firearms.”
Manassa’s family say Luke is an innocent party who couldn’t have been the intended target of the attack, with police confirming mistaken identity is a line of inquiry.
“Sadly, investigators have not identified a clear motive as to why somebody would want to murder him. Luke is not adversely known to the NSW Police Force,” Doueihi said at a press conference on Friday.
While Manassa did not reside at the Pemulwuy home, he would visit on occasion. The residents of the house are well known to police and have links to an organised crime network, police say.
According to online interviews, 21-year-old Manassa was employed at the family excavation business Mann Group and was an aspiring entrepreneur.
A tribute posted on Instagram by the Inner West Bulls basketball club remembered Manassa as a “valued member” of the community who was “strong, kind and respected by all who knew him”.
“We remember Luke not only for his talent, but for the kindness, energy and brotherhood he brought to the team,” the post read.
“We will carry your memory on the court, always. You will be deeply missed.”
Manassa was killed just over a month after innocent tradie John Versace was gunned down in the driveway of a Condell Park home in a case of mistaken identity.
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