Second torched getaway car found after deadly gangland hit on Sam ‘The Punisher’ Abdulrahim

Homicide squad detectives are continuing to investigate the killing of Melbourne’s most hunted gangland figure, Sam ‘The Punisher’ Abdulrahim, with a second torched getaway car found.

The burnt-out Porsche. Picture: Tony Gough

Homicide squad detectives are continuing to investigate the killing of Melbourne’s most hunted gangland figure, Sam “The Punisher” Abdulrahim, with a second torched getaway car found.

Fate finally caught up with the boxer and former Mongol Bikie when he was shot dead on Tuesday in front of his girlfriend.

Abdulrahim had been making his way to his car in the car park of the Quest Hotel in Preston in Melbourne’s north, where he had stayed the night.

Police believed the offenders fled in a white Porsche SUV Macan, later found burnt-out in the nearby suburb of Reservoir.

On Wednesday, police confirmed a third crime scene was in play when a second getaway car was found torched in suburban Westmeadows.

The grey Ford Ranger, which had a “distinctive sticker of bull horns on the rear window of the canopy”, may have been used by the offenders to flee after they burnt the Porsche, Victoria Police Detective Inspector Dean Thomas told Nova FM.

As the Melbourne underworld’s most wanted man, Abdulrahim had survived multiple attempts on his life and had been subject to death threats for years.

Victoria Police’s investigation continues amid concerns about retaliatory underworld attacks, with Inspector Thomas confirming a police presence would remain in the area.

On Wednesday, Charlie Bezz­ina, a retired former Victorian homicide detective, told The Australian that while police would be concerned about retaliation, he didn’t think the situation would escalate to that of Melbourne’s notorious gangland wars, in which some 30 gangland figures were murdered between the late 1990s and early 2000s.

“I can’t see it getting to that level, given the different players there and they don’t want to be distracted from their other criminal enterprises,” he said.

“I don’t think they’re as hot-headed and open as the old Carl Williams days.”

Mr Bezzina said it was unclear whether Abdulrahim’s associates would retaliate and it could be that his death suited a lot of people.

“Only time will tell,” he said. “There’s always a gun for hire, you can always pay.”

Mr Bezzina said Victoria Police had a difficult task ahead in identifying who ordered Abdulrahim’s execution.

Abdulrahim had reportedly been in hiding since May last year, when a hit team fired 17 shots at him after he was lured from his family home in Melbourne’s north. He also cheated death in 2022 and was left with bullet holes in his chest after being shot at eight times by gunmen as he drove away in his black Mercedes following his cousin’s funeral in Melbourne’s north.