Inside the Bali ‘love shack’ a Sydney plumber rented before Melb man was killed
Two Aussies accused of a deadly Bali ambush stayed in a romantic villa room with fairy lights and wind chimes before allegedly unleashing bloodshed in a suspected gangland revenge hit. WATCH THE VIDEO
EXCLUSIVE: Two Aussies on trial accused of being gunmen in a deadly Bali ambush shared a one bed “love” shack before allegedly unleashing a bloodbath in a suspected gangland revenge hit.
The owner of the Lotus & Teak Villas in Canggu, Bali, James Alexander, told this masthead that he quizzed Mevlut Coskun, 22, and Paea-I-Middlemore Tupou, 26, as they lugged their bags to a room on his property he decorated to be a love nest.
But Mr Alexander said the men who are alleged to have ambushed four Australians at a nearby villa – Casa Santisya – in Munggu explained that the keys, to a room at his property paid for by a mate.
Mr Alexander said he asked the pair who had given them the keys.
“Oh, you know, the big tall Aussie guy, but (he) didn’t say his name” Mr Alexander said one of the men told him.
“I’m like, you mean Darcy?
“And he went yeah, that’s the fella.”
Mr Alexander said it was odd considering the villa had one double bed.
“What’s quite amusing in a way, is if you look at the place, it’s quite, you know, we tried to make it romantic,” he said.
“ … So, we put the fairy lights here and we put all the wind chimes in there. And then you get the two big islander guys staying here and playing, blasting music out.”
The court has previously heard evidence by Mr Alexander that the room had been booked by the alleged gunmen’s co-accused, Sydney plumber Darcy Francesco Jenson, three months earlier.
Mr Jenson paid three months in advance for the room on April 15 – about $2750 – before flying to Bangkok, Thailand, to hand the
set of keys to “someone”, the court heard.
The 27-year-old returned to Bali in early June, less than a fortnight before the alleged ambush.
On June 6, an Australian contact giving orders over an encrypted app – Threema – is alleged to have sent Mr Jenson passport photos of Mr Coskun and Mr Tupou with instructions to buy them bus tickets under their names from Jakarta to Surabaya.
Mr Jenson picked them up there in a rented car and drove them to Bali, prosecutors say.
It’s also alleged Mr Jenson had the Toyota delivered to high-end gym Obsidian where muscle-bound Australians and Russians are prominent.
Oddly, it was the same gym Melbourne underworld figure Sanar Ghanim trained.
Their lives would soon be intertwined.
Melbourne underworld sources say Ghanim had fallen foul of a serious organised crime syndicate.
It is suspected the Australian national sending instructions over Threema was behind the ambush on Ghanim and his guests, Zivan Radmanovic, 32, Jazmyn Gourdeas, 30 and her sister Daniella on June 14. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by the Gourdeas sisters.
His identity has not been disclosed to Indonesian authorities to date.
It is alleged that after Mr Coskun and Mr Tupou made trips to a tattoo parlour and frequented hotspots such as Finns Beach Club before the raid.
It’s also alleged they hired a scooter rider to take them to a brothel.
Prosecutors allege Mr Jenson was instructed to buy items in pairs, such as backpacks, balaclavas, gloves, headsets and sunglasses.
They also allege there were roadside meetings and a trip to familiarise themselves with the getaway spot.
Mr Jenson is standing trial separately to Mr Coskun and Mr Tupou.
They are charged with murder and premeditated murder.
Mr Jenson, who is not alleged to have been at the crime scene, is also facing a charge of aiding and abetting.
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Originally published as Inside the Bali ‘love shack’ a Sydney plumber rented before Melb man was killed
