By Amilia Rosa and Marta Pascual Juanola
Bali: A Sydney plumber facing the death penalty in Indonesia for his alleged role in the execution-style murder of Melbourne man Zivan “Stipe” Radmanovic inside a Balinese luxury villa last month claims he was “just helping a friend”.
Darcy Jenson, 27, is accused by Bali police of setting up the hit, having been in Bali since April, and appearing to stake out the area near the crime scene almost two weeks before the attack. Jenson is also believed by police to be responsible for organising the rental vehicles used to carry out the hit.
Balinese police at Villa Casa Santisya, the luxury villa where Melbourne man Zivan “Stipe” Radmanovic was fatally shot in June, ahead of a re-enactment exercise.Credit: Amilia Rosa
His lawyer, Katharina Nutz, told this masthead that her client was co-operating with the police and had admitted to some of the allegations put forward by the investigators during a re-enactment of the shooting at several crucial sites that form part of the investigation on Wednesday.
“He’s a very polite young man. Even the police admitted that he’s very polite. He was just helping a friend. He knows nothing,” Nutz said. The lawyer would not reveal the identity of Jenson’s friend, adding that any more information about their relationship would be revealed in court.
Nutz said Jenson had been in Bali since April “holidaying”.
Jenson allegedly purchased a hammer from a hardware store in Bali which was used to break into the villa, and allegedly helped to dispose of a bag containing the guns used by his co-accused, Australians Mevlut Coskun and Paea I Middlemore Tupou, during the shooting.
Nutz said Jenson, who is believed by police to have driven the getaway car, had been asked to toss the backpack to one of the other men, who threw it into water irrigation drainage down a secluded road in the neighbouring district of Tabanan. Police eventually recovered two guns after a week-long search.
“He was only asked to toss the backpack from the middle seat. He has no idea what’s in it,” she said.
Jupiter G. Lalwani, another lawyer acting for Jenson, said the 27-year-old was depressed and concerned about the prospect of facing the death penalty.
“He is concerned that it might happen, that he might actually be sentenced to death,” Lalwani said.
“At the moment, he is just trying to co-operate the best that he can.”
All three co-accused men during the re-enactment.Credit: Amilia Rosa
Bali police investigators retraced the steps of Jenson, Coskun and Tupou over several hours on Wednesday, in an attempt to reconstruct how the shooting unfolded.
The men were restrained, put in armoured vehicles and taken to several locations on the southern end of the holiday island, where officers used evidence from witnesses, CCTV footage, and forensic crews to recreate the events around June 14.
Images from one re-enactment showed the men wearing ballistic vests over bright orange T-shirts, shorts and thongs, as they stood next to a vehicle on a muddy road. All three had shackled hands and feet, and wore signs around their neck identifying them as “tersangka” – the Indonesian word for suspect.
During one re-enactment, Coskun and Tupou were taken to a road leading to Villa Casa Santisya, the luxury accommodation where Radmanovic was killed.
There, an officer read out the evidence from a witness, who claims he spotted two men on motorbikes on his way to buy cigarettes on the night of the shooting.
Heavily armed police escorted the men as they took part in the re-enactments.Credit: Amilia Rosa
Coskun and Tupou, their hands tied and faces obscured by balaclavas, were then taken to the villa, where police allege the men used a large hammer to break in, before making their way towards the bathroom and shooting Radmanovic.
The father of six had only been on the holiday island for two days when he was fatally shot, as his wife, Jazmyn Gourdeas, hid under the covers inside the luxury villa.
The couple had arrived in Bali on June 12 and planned to stay just five days with Gourdeas’ sister, Daniella Gourdeas, and her partner, 34-year-old Sanar Ghanim, to celebrate Jazmyn’s 30th birthday.
As part of the re-enactment at the villa, police also described how one of the men entered the room looking for Ghanim and proceeded to shoot him. The 34-year-old was hit in the leg and beaten during the targeted attack, but survived. He has since returned to Melbourne.
Coskun and Tupou were then led out of the villa and ushered into an armoured vehicle, before being taken to the neighbouring district of Tabanan, where they are alleged to have ditched the rented motorbikes used to drive to the villa.
Police believe the men jumped in a car before dumping it in the area and switching to a second vehicle.
Representatives of the media waiting for Bali police to give a press conference at Villa Casa Santisya.Credit: Amilia Rosa
Asked by reporters about the motivation behind the attack, Badung police chief Arif Batubara said the investigation was still ongoing, and the motive would form part of the court proceedings.
“It will be revealed during court,” he said.
Batubara said that while the three Australian men had been co-operative with the re-enactments, they were based on the testimony from witnesses, CCTV footage, and forensic samples, including blood and DNA collected from the scene.
The re-enactments also included visiting a shop where Jenson is believed to have bought the hammer used to break into the villa, a Circle K convenience store where Tupou bought cigarettes, and Lotus Villa, where two of the alleged offenders stayed. They were supervised by prosecutors, police, and forensic experts.
Police arrested Jenson in Jakarta last month, as he attempted to leave the country for Cambodia via Singapore. Coskun, a convicted drug dealer, and Tupou were detained in Singapore and Cambodia, respectively, the following day. All three men have since been charged with premeditated murder, as well as the “embezzlement” or theft of several rental vehicles, according to local police.
Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.