Court hears Victor Codea was fatally bashed by drug underworld rivals at Adelaide High School because of a bad online review

This drug dealer was allegedly ambushed and battered to death because a rival dealer thought he’d posted negative online reviews. Read the killer’s chilling texts in full.

Victor Codea and some of the messages sent in the lead-up to his alleged murder at Adelaide High School.

The bashing murder of a drug dealer was a “ferocious” assault fuelled by bad online reviews and social media messages that “crossed the line” of Adelaide’s underworld, a court has heard.

On Monday, the Supreme Court heard the three-on-one attack that killed Victor Codea, 24, in Adelaide High School’s car park in August 2020 happened so quickly that he could not defend himself or even undo his seatbelt.

Prosecutors alleged Kain Mazomenos and Thomas Nichols assaulted Mr Codea from the driver’s side of his parked vehicle, punching him in the head, while Thomas Pinnington launched kicks through the car from the passenger side.

All three, they alleged, were acting at the behest of another drug dealer, Jeremy Dale Sandell – who had travelled to the school in Mr Codea’s car to lure him into the ambush.

Kain Mazomenos is one of four accused who have pleaded not guilty to murder.

Lisa Dunlop, prosecuting, said Sandell believed Mr Codea was the author of Discord messages that dubbed him a “dodgy” dealer, criticised his product, blamed him for an earlier assault on yet another dealer and threatened to have him arrested.

“Sandell was angry, this was very personal to him … this was about his reputation and about messages that were threatening him,” she said.

“He told his girlfriend ‘now he has crossed the line’ and ‘I would rather you not see me covered in this c--t’s blood’.

“This was not a talking to, this was not a conversation, this was a lesson to be delivered not just by one person but by the violence of three people – by ‘Kain and his boys’.

“That’s clear from the immediacy and ferocity of the attack … so quickly did it start that Mr Codea barely had time to yell out ‘no, stop, can we talk about this’ … he barely had time to hold his hands up to protect himself … he didn’t even have time to take off his seatbelt.”

Sandell, 25, Mr Mazomenos, 26, Mr Nichols, 31, and Mr Pinnington, 25, have pleaded not guilty to murder. Sandell has pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.

On Monday, Ms Dunlop said that before the murder, Sandell sold drugs online via the Discord platform under the username “Winnie Blues”.

At that time, she said, Discord – designed for online gamers to chat – was effectively “like eBay” for buying and selling drugs in Adelaide.

She said text messages between Sandell and his then-girlfriend showed he was upset by Discord reviews of himself and his product that were “none too complimentary”.

“We don’t have an answer as to who was posting those messages but, on our case, it would not matter,” Ms Dunlop said.

“What matters is who Sandell and others thought or came to think was posting them.”

Police examine the scene of the fatal bashing. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

Ms Dunlop said Sandell came to believe a rival dealer was responsible and arranged for Mr Mazomenos and two other men to attack him on August 24.

She said instead of stopping the messages, that attack – witnessed by Mr Codea – caused the situation to “escalate”.

“This included personally offensive posts about Sandell himself, about him being a police informant or a ‘dog’,” she said.

“One post went even further … its author not only named him (by his real name) but included a photo of him.

“Another said: ‘You are all going to jail, we called the police, and the police are going to lock Winnie Blues up. Tell (Mazomenos) we are going to make sure they take his kids, he’s an unfit dad. It’s all on you, Winnie Blues – you’re going to jail.’

“Sandell posted a response that very simply says ‘hello, Victor’.”

Ms Dunlop said Sandell and Mazomenos then planned to attack Mr Codea, but needed a way to lure him to Adelaide High School.

“Sandell tried to recruit someone else to undertake that role, asking how much it would cost to get her to bring Mr Codea to where he needed to be,” she said.

“She had no interest in being part of that.”

Mr Codea allegedly witnessed an earlier attack on a different drug dealer. Picture: SA Police

Mr Mazomenos allegedly perpetrated that earlier attack.

She said Sandell took on the role but became concerned when Mr Codea first drove out to Welland to deliver drugs to one of his customers.

Mr Codea then “repeatedly” asked that woman to come for a drive and she agreed – prompting more text messages from Sandell.

“He was trying to get a message to (the woman) that what was about to happen was not about her and she would be okay … he could not simply turn around and say that to her,” Ms Dunlop said.

“He told his girlfriend: ‘I’ve told Kain not to touch her’.”

Ms Dunlop said the court would be shown two compilations of CCTV footage.

The first showed Mr Codea and Sandell driving to Welland, collecting the other woman, and then driving to Adelaide High School.

The second showed Mr Mazomenos, Mr Nichols and Mr Pinnington meeting, getting into a car, driving to the petrol station across from the school and “waiting”.

She said there was no CCTV footage of the attack itself – however, the woman would give an eyewitness account.

The court heard there is no CCTV footage of the assault itself, which occurred in the car park of Adelaide High School. Picture: SA Police

“Shortly after Mr Codea’s car arrived, another car pulled in and stopped right behind, effectively blocking him in,” she said.

“Sandell got out, went to the car that had pulled up behind and got in … as he did so, the other three men got out and went straight over to Mr Codea’s car.

“This was a co-ordinated and planned attack, executed quickly and brutally … as (the woman) ran and hid, one man said ‘don’t worry, this isn’t about you’.

“That same voice, shortly after, said ‘go through the car, get the drugs’.”

Ms Dunlop said the woman returned to the car after the attack, put Mr Codea into the passenger seat and drove him to the Royal Adelaide Hospital for help.

However, he died as a result of blunt force injuries to his head.

Bill Boucaut KC, for Sandell, said his client did not dispute his involvement in the incident and had therefore pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

“The issue in respect of this trial will revolve around his state of mind … he denies any form of murderous intent,” he said.

Grant Algie KC, for Mr Pinington, said his client had no knowledge of any plan to murder Mr Codea.

“It’s reasonably possible he was in the right place, as it were, at the wrong time,” he said.

The trial, before Justice Adam Kimber and in the absence of a jury, is expected to run 20 days.

Originally published as Court hears Victor Codea was fatally bashed by drug underworld rivals at Adelaide High School because of a bad online review