Five months after former Nomads bikie gang member Adrian Buxton was fatally shot in Sydney’s north-west, a coded telephone call took place between two men.
It was October 4, 2016, and police had made a formal demand for Olevar Merza to hand over details regarding an Audi they suspected was involved in Buxton’s murder that year.
Gunned down outside his home: Adrian Buxton. Credit: NSW Police
Merza told a friend police had come looking for the suspected getaway car and told him to “hide it good”.
According to court documents, Merza told police he was unable to assist them, while repeatedly telling his associate to hide the Audi. Now, he has been jailed for a maximum of two years and three months for hindering the murder investigation.
Buxton, 31, was gunned down outside his home while taking out his wheelie bins on Coral Pea Court at Colyton, near Penrith. Police said he had severed his bikie links shortly before.
The Colyton house where Adrian Buxton was shot in the driveway on May 19, 2016.Credit: Nine News
Two assailants were seen running from the scene, driving away in a dark-coloured car accompanied by a light-coloured car that had been parked nearby.
A police review of CCTV discovered one of the cars was likely to have been a black Audi Q7. They believed Merza owned it.
However, as outlined by Judge Garry Neilson in his NSW District Court judgment, “whilst police believed as at August 10, 2016 that a black Audi Q7 was a vehicle of interest and knew that the offender was an owner of such a vehicle, they did nothing about that until October 4, 2016”.
Antonio Hermiz, as posted on social media.Credit: Facebook
The agreed facts state police searched Merza’s Cabramatta West home in early August and found the Audi there.
Merza and a since-murdered man named Antonio Hermiz had a coded telephone conversation that same day.
Merza told Hermiz police had come looking for the vehicle, referred to as “the big one”, and told him to “hide it good”.
Eight days later, police made a formal demand on Merza, who agreed he drove the car and he and others had access to it.
The next day, Merza spoke to Hermiz again and said “the big one” has to “go, go”.
Adrian Buxton and his family.
In an intercepted call on November 14, Merza told Hermiz what to say if police asked him about the Audi.
Merza: “If they ask you about it, don’t say you don’t know anything about it. Say ‘yeah you drive it’ and say you, I don’t know what the f--k, they want it.”
Hermiz: “Yeah, alright no worries.”
Merza: “Because they know you driven it; they have photos.”
In a call in December, Merza told Hermiz his brother had been interviewed by police about the “big one” and he had an address for Hermiz to take the Audi to and swap it with other cars.
On December 23, Hermiz was gunned down in Wetherill Park in what remains an unsolved homicide.
Despite continued searches for the Audi, police have never recovered it.
The hindering investigation offence is the only offence Merza has been convicted of in relation to Buxton’s murder.
In his judgment, Neilson wrote the crown had conceded Merza’s motive of ensuring police did not seize his car was unknown and could have been linked to him being the “leader of a criminal group involved in supplying cannabis”.
“He may have used the vehicle in that enterprise and have had reasons for keeping the vehicle out of the hands of the police,” it read.
“It could, for example, have had a secret compartment for moving drugs between places.“
In April 2021, police announced a $1 million reward for information about Buxton’s murder.
Hermiz was a person of interest in Buxton’s shooting but he was never charged over Buxton’s murder.
At the time of his sentencing on Friday, Merza was already serving a 12-year jail sentence for wounding a teenager with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
For hindering Buxton’s murder investigation, Merza was sentenced to a further two years and three months in prison with a non-parole period of one year.
He will be eligible for parole on March 24, 2029.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.