How Australian plumber Darcy Jenson got allegedly caught up a Bali gangland murder
More details have emerged of how Sydney plumber Darcy Jenson became the alleged fixer to a Bali gangland murder that left Zivan Radmanovic dead and Sanar Ghanim at-large. SEE THE VIDEO
It was an Instagram post from Bali that led Sydney plumber Darcy Jenson into the lion’s den.
His social media reel caught the eye of an old customer who regularly visited the paradise island.
Jenson was offered a free holiday in exchange for running errands and playing travel guide, no questions asked.
Soon another man entered the picture – the friend of the friend – who made contact online.
It is not known if Jenson knew him or not but the Australian man had deep pockets.
Over months, Jenson received instructions from him via Threema – an end-to-end encrypted app designed to be traceless.
And Jenson did as he was told.
That is his story.
A Bali court will consider whether the 27-year-old was playing a dangerous game or was incredulously foolish.
As far as Indonesian prosecutors are concerned, Jenson was deeply involved in organising the violence that erupted in Bali on June 14 when two gunmen stormed a luxury villa in Munggu, Bali.
It is their case that Jenson was the fixer who handled logistics for the gunmen who murdered Melbourne man Zivan Radmanovic, 32, and wounded underworld figure Sanar Ghanim, 34, in the midnight raid.
Jenson was also the alleged getaway driver sitting in bushland 20 minutes away from where the bloodshed unfolded.
But, in an exclusive interview with this masthead, Jenson says he was clueless to the crime about to be unleashed on the unsuspecting victims.
“I did what I was asked to do by someone I knew,” Jenson said via his lawyers.
“I never imagined something terrible could happen. I have co-operated with the authorities from the very beginning because I want the truth to be clear.”
His legal team states it more succinctly: “He was dumb”.
PLUMBER’S DIGS
Jenson’s alleged involvement in the bloodbath at Ghanim’s villa – Casa Santisya 1 – in Munggu, began on April 15 when he laid down 30 million Rupiah (almost $2800 AUD) to rent a room at the Lotus & Teak Villas in Bali.
The three month deal was for a room he would never use.
In a scene straight out of a movie, the 27-year-old flew to Thailand the following day to meet “someone” in Bangkok and handed him keys to the villa before heading for home – Australia.
On June 3, Jenson was back in Bali.
It had been almost two months since Lotus & Teak owner James Alexander had seen Jenson, who he described as a “dream” customer who paid and never stayed.
But Jenson, who contacted him over WhatsApp on June 5 needed a favour – another set of keys to the villa, explaining he had left his set in Australia.
Alexander noted Jenson’s demeanour.
Then he overheard shouting.
“Darcy was on the phone in the reception,” Alexander claims.
“He was definitely on edge. After that, I never saw him again.”
Instead, two other Aussies were on their way.
THE ENCRYPTED APP AND HARDWARE STORE
Jenson’s Threema app was humming.
On June 6, he received passport photos of Australians Mevlut Coskun and Paea-I-Middlemore Tupou and instructions to buy them bus tickets from Jakarta to Surabaya.
Jenson would meet them there.
Whether he knew it or not, Jenson’s life would soon be intertwined with them and a gangland ambush underworld sources say was aimed at Ghanim who had fallen foul of a drug syndicate.
And the Aussie sending instructions was planning to do something about it.
Days later, Coskun and Tupou flew into Jakarta and headed for the meeting point.
The following day Jenson dropped them at the Lotus & Teak Villas, handing them the keys, according to prosecutors.
More orders would come via Threema.
Orders to buy backpacks, balaclavas, gloves and sunglasses.
Prosecutors also allege there were roadside meetings and reconnaissance.
On June 12, Jenson allegedly bundled Coskun’s and Tupou’s belongings into a Suzuki – the alleged getaway car he used his own passport to hire.
And in a fateful act, he allegedly bought an orange-headed sledgehammer from a hardware shop in Canggu and passed it on to Coskun and Tupou.
Jenson then checked out of a hotel and waited.
PARTY IN BALI
Zivan Radmanovic and mother of six Jazmyn Gourdeas needed a break.
Jazmyn was turning 30 and her sister and her boyfriend, Ghanim, had the perfect place to party.
The stunning villa, Casa Santisya.
If Ghanim knew he was in danger, his guests were naive to it.
The gunmen who arrived carrying a sledgehammer were likely looking for him, not his guests, just minutes after midnight on June 14.
Once inside, an assailant fired an old Indonesian handgun at Ghanim while the other took aim at Radmanovic.
Daniella, Ghanim’s partner, initially hid in a bedroom before escaping and “shouting for help”.
Ghanim, riddled with bullets, survived.
Radmanovic was executed in a bathroom.
THE ESCAPE
Jenson was allegedly on the phone to his girlfriend when his two new buddies, riding scooters, arrived at the car.
He was waiting in a rented Toyota, surrounded by paddy fields, in the middle of the night.
They were flying out of Jakarta en-route to Cambodia in two days’ time.
Whether Jenson knew of the bloodshed or not, he was about to be in a world of pain.
Prosecutors say guns were dumped in a creek and cars were swapped as they headed for Jakarta’s airport.
If Jenson was clueless, as he claims, his suspicions were growing.
They drove from Bali to Surabaya, staying at the DoubleTree Hilton and abandoning the Suzuki at a bus terminal.
Jenson no longer wanted to travel to Cambodia, booking a flight to Sydney.
THE AIRPORT
The orange sledgehammer was, police claim, integral to police identifying Jenson.
A barcode led investigators to the hardware store, leading to CCTV footage of Jenson on his scooter with the sledgehammer sticking out of a backpack.
From there it was easy for investigators, who tracked down the rental company who had hired Jenson the scooter.
Jenson had rented it in his own name - with his own passport.
According to his lawyers, Jenson was released by immigration and checked himself into an airport hotel.
It was there, they say, he came across news of the fatal ambush in Munggu two nights earlier.
By now Indonesian Police were on their way to arrest him.
Interpol would help hunt down Coskun and Tupou, who made it to Cambodia before being turned back.
Jenson has since co-operated with police to a point.
The man who he, and allegedly Coskun, communicated with on Threema remains a mystery.
So too is the contact in Thailand.
The Mr Big’s who run transnational drug cartels tend to make it clear you will be endangering your loved ones if you do.
Tupou and Coskun are on trial for their lives in a country that carries the death penalty.
Jenson is also facing years in Kerobokan jail.
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Originally published as How Australian plumber Darcy Jenson got allegedly caught up a Bali gangland murder
