Five charged over bikie-linked murder of Robert Issa in Melbourne carpark
Mr Issa, 27, had been sitting in a white Mercedes in Craigieburn Central shopping centre car park when gunmen sprayed the car with bullets, killing Mr Issa and wounding his friend Eric Catanese in early October 2023.
A burnt out Black Range Rover was found in the nearby suburb Westmeadows a short time later.
On Thursday morning, Victoria Police took a 29-year-old Kew man, a 31-year-old Mickleham man, a 33-year-old Pascoe Vale man and two 26-year-old Fawkner men into custody.
Following interviews, all five men were charged with murder, attempted murder and criminal damage by fire.
The reasons behind Mr Issa's killing remain unclear.
However, he was thought to be closely associated with a figure linked to the Comanchero bikie gang, who was suspected of playing a role in a string of retaliatory firebombings targeting businesses and residences throughout Melbourne, the Herald Sun reported.
Detective Inspector Dean Thomas said on Thursday the men arrested were likely only 'foot soldiers' and those responsible for planning the attack remained at large.
'We believe these men were likely the foot soldiers who carried out the murder, but we believe there are also people further up the chain who are responsible for ordering this attack,' he said.
'This shooting was incredibly violent and it played out in a shopping centre carpark in the middle of the afternoon on a Saturday.'
Detective Inspector Thomas said despite the arrests, the investigation was not over.
'We will do everything we can to hold accountable every single person involved in this shooting,' he said.
'You know you are part of that chain, now is the time for you to come and speak to us, because this may be your last opportunity.'
The five men were due to appear at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday afternoon.
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ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Do class actions really deliver justice?
Sam Hawley: On average, there's a class action launched in Australia every week. But do they really help bring justice to groups of Australians exposed to wrongdoing? Today, Anne Connolly on her Four Corners investigation into the class action traps leaving victims short-changed and lawyers richer. I'm Sam Hawley on Gadigal land in Sydney. This is ABC News Daily. Sam Hawley: Anne, in Australia, class actions have become pretty common, haven't they? It's a really important way to address injustices in this country. Anne Connolly: Well, yes, that's what class actions are designed to do. And I mean, when there were some really major catastrophes, such as the Victorian bushfires, the Queensland floods, class actions were taken to get some money back for those people. News report: Property owners around Horsham in Victoria have banded together to bring the first class action arising from the Black Saturday bushfires. Anne Connolly: Same with the pelvic mesh issue against Johnson & Johnson. News report: The federal court found Johnson & Johnson had been negligent and driven by commercial interest and ordered them to pay compensation. Anne Connolly: There's many, and they're very varied. Sam Hawley: Yeah, and you found during your Four Corners investigation, this is a billion dollar industry, but it's not always in favour of the individual victims. So to explain this further, why don't we look at a recent case, Anne, a legal fight between more than 8,000 Australian taxi drivers and Uber. Anne Connolly: Well, I mean, I think most people remember when Uber entered the market, obviously the taxi industry was absolutely decimated. They just couldn't compete any longer. One of the taxi owners I spoke to is a man called Stephen Lacaze. He said he had a licence in Queensland, which was at the time valued at about half a million dollars. It went to being virtually worthless once Uber came along. Stephen Lacaze, taxi owner: Oh, it was devastating. People virtually went into shock. Anne Connolly: So when Maurice Blackburn, which is one of the biggest class action firms in Australia, came along and proposed a class action, he was very keen to sign up. Stephen Lacaze, taxi owner: We were friendless. And here comes Maurice Blackburn with their Bradman-like batting averages, and their 'we fight for fair' banner, and we're there with bells on. Sam Hawley: OK, so Stephen was keen to fight this. Maurice Blackburn lawyers take it on, and they get a third party, a litigation funder, to pay the costs. Just explain how that works. Anne Connolly: Yeah, so what happens is Maurice Blackburn doesn't want to go this alone. So what they do is they engage somebody called a litigation funder. And litigation funders, they pay the lawyers' fees, they support them, and if they lose, they pay all of the costs, so there is some risk. But in return for taking that risk, they want a percentage of any payout that they win. So in this case, with Maurice Blackburn, they had a partnership with an offshore firm called Harbour Litigation Funding, which is actually registered in the Cayman Islands. It's a tax haven, and there's quite a few litigation funders in tax havens. Under this deal, they said, we want 30% of the proceeds. And Stephen signed up for that, as did most of the taxi drivers. Stephen said he did that because he thought they were going to get a payout worth billions because that's how much they'd lost. Sam Hawley: So in this case, Maurice Blackburn, the law firm, ends up settling this class action. So just tell me what happens then. Are the taxi drivers elated about this? Anne Connolly: Well, the night before the trial was due to start in March last year, Maurice Blackburn brokered a deal with Uber. That would be that Uber would pay $272 million in compensation. Now, once Harbour took its commission, that came out at $81.5 million. Maurice Blackburn took its legal costs, which came to $39 million. It means that the drivers were left with just over half the payout. Now, we don't know what individual taxi drivers will get. Stephen Lacaze believes he'll get about $20,000 once all of these fees and commissions come out of his payment, which he says is nowhere near what he lost. Sam Hawley: What did Maurice Blackburn have to say about that? Anne Connolly: They said the federal court had approved the settlement as fair and reasonable, and Harbour, the funder, said that the case was long-running and there were significant risks. Sam Hawley: Hmm, OK. So, Anne, that's the case of the taxi drivers against Uber, and we're going to talk about another really concerning case in a moment. But before we do, let's just look at the system more deeply. The worry here is that the whole class action system is set up to make profits for the law firms and the funders, but not deliver the justice to the victims, right? Anne Connolly: Well, there's some people who are concerned about that. I mean, the lawyers and the funders will say, without us, people would get nothing. The problem is that what's happening now is most people think a class action begins with a group of victims, but that's not really the case anymore. Now everything has changed because litigation funders have now entered the Australian market. So what happens is, it's the law firms and the litigation funders getting together and seeing, what are these issues that we could launch a class action on so that they can make money and then they can sign up the group members? So the concern is, are they really seeking justice for people or are they actually just finding a business opportunity so that they can make as much profit as they possibly can? Sam Hawley: Anne, let's now look at another case where the victims are left with, in comparison, petty change. Just tell me about Minnie McDonald. Anne Connolly: So Minnie McDonald is a woman in her 90s. She lives in Alice Springs and she was approached by Shine lawyers to become what's called the lead plaintiff in a class action in the Northern Territory for stolen wages of Indigenous workers who worked on cattle stations and missions for little or no money. Minnie McDonald, lead plaintiff: No shoes, get up in the morning, go to work. Come back afternoon, cold. Anne Connolly: So this case relates to the treatment of people like Minnie who, along with a lot of other... ..thousands of other Aboriginal men, women and children worked for little or no pay between the 1930s and the 1970s. Look, I just think, you know, one of the things I want to say about this is if ever there was a class action needed, perhaps it was in this particular case. I mean, there's questions about why the governments didn't just actually pay people what they deserved instead of being forced to court and forced to pay out compensation. But in any case, what Shine says and what the litigation funder says is we were doing our very best to get right a particular historical injustice. Sam Hawley: So the law firm Shine takes on this class action along with the litigation funder, Litigation Lending Services, and Minnie becomes the lead plaintiff. But the thing is, Anne, we know with legal cases, there's a lot of paperwork and Minnie had to sign a lot of that and she can't read or write. Anne Connolly: That's right, she can't read or write. So Minnie had her granddaughter Elizabeth to help her. However, Elizabeth does say, you know, it was complicated. It was difficult to understand at times. So Minnie did sign one document which said that Shine's costs had increased by $10 million and she signed off on that. I asked her about it and I asked her granddaughter if they remembered it. They didn't. I asked Shine, did they check that Minnie had the capacity to understand the complex legal and financial issues around class actions? They said being unable to read or write is no indication of intelligence and that they had an Indigenous barrister who helped to cross these cultural barriers and explain the process to them. Sam Hawley: So tell me what ended up happening with the case. Anne Connolly: So there were two class actions in WA and the NT and they both settled. So they didn't go to court. In Western Australia, there was a settlement for $180 million. In the Northern Territory, it was $200 million. Which sounds, you know, really positive. But what has to come out of that are the legal costs and the commission for the litigation funder. So they're not going to end up with that much. They'll end up with at least $10,000 and some will end up with more than that. Minnie McDonald, lead plaintiff: So somebody might... get a car and just take me for a picnic somewhere, you know, have a feed. But... I didn't get enough. Anne Connolly: You didn't get enough to buy a car? Minnie McDonald, lead plaintiff: Yeah, yeah. Nothing. Not enough. Anne Connolly: On the other hand, what's happened is Shine Lawyers is going to get about $30 million for its work. And the funder, Litigation Lending Services, they will take a commission of about $57 million. Sam Hawley: And you've had a really good look, haven't you, also, at the amount the law firm Shine was actually charging. Anne Connolly: Well, that's very interesting because Shine was roundly criticised in both WA and Northern Territory courts by the judges there. In one instance, Shine was charging for law clerks, charging them out at $375 an hour, even though many of them were unqualified uni students. They hired at least a dozen barristers that cost almost $3.5 million. One of those barristers charges almost $5,000 an hour. So, you know, the legal costs are the things that's really interesting. Sam Hawley: All right. So, Anne, the law firms and the funds are making a lot of money from these class actions in many cases. They do argue, as you mentioned, that they're actually giving people a chance to have these cases heard. What has Shine told you? Anne Connolly: Well, Shine said we were the only ones who were willing to take this on. We have given Aboriginal workers a chance to tell their stories. They've received compensation and they're being acknowledged for the historical injustices that they've suffered. And they said that these cases require experienced and well-resourced lawyers. And Litigation Lending Services, they said that they're proud of their involvement and that their commission was lower than the standard market rates because they wanted to reflect the social justice nature of these claims. Sam Hawley: And you spoke to the head of the Association of Litigation Funders. So this is a group that represents the firms that financially back these class actions, the funds. Its head is John Walker. So what's he had to say? Anne Connolly: Well, he said, look, you know, this is a market. This is a financial market that they operate in. They're trying to get some justice for people, but at the same time they're trying to make a profit and they don't shy away from that. John Walker, Association of Litigation Funders : We underwrite the project. We'll pay everybody if we lose, but in return, if we win, then we get a share of the recovery. We don't see it as gambling. We see it as investing. It's a market, and I don't step away from that. Anne Connolly: He essentially says, look, what we're doing is we're trying to correct the bad behaviour. Even if these class members are not getting enormous sums, it's sending a message to the big end of town that you can't operate in this way any longer. John Walker, Association of Litigation Funders : I'm absolutely proud of what's happened with class actions in Australia. They're absolutely essential to create accountability in respect of the big companies and governments. Sam Hawley: But, Anne, it does sound like a system that's not really working as it should. That is for the everyday people who need it. Anne Connolly: Well, I think what happens is a lot of people look at a class action sum and they believe that the sum that's been publicised is what people are getting. They don't realise that up to half of it can disappear in fees and commissions. The other point being the only class actions that actually get funded and get run are those that turn a profit. So when you're talking about others that might be very worthy, they won't get up if the bottom line doesn't look good. I think the problem arises when you're talking about people who have really suffered, such as these Aboriginal workers in the stolen wages cases who thought that they were going to get some proper compensation and what they're getting is simply a fraction of what they really deserve. And when they do see litigation funders and lawyers walking away with tens of millions of dollars, it makes it difficult for them to understand and sometimes it can feel like they've been exploited all over again. Sam Hawley: Anne Connolly is an investigative reporter with the ABC. You can see her Four Corners report on ABC TV tonight at 8.30pm or you can catch it on iView. This episode was produced by Sydney Pead. Audio production by Sam Dunn. Our supervising producer is David Coady. I'm Sam Hawley. Thanks for listening.
News.com.au
5 hours ago
- News.com.au
Idaho murders: Prosecutor reveals why he believes killer Bryan Kohberger left 2 of 6 friends alive
The lead prosecutor on the Idaho murders case believes quadruple killer Bryan Kohberger did see the surviving housemate that saw him but left her alive because he 'was scared'. Kohberger, now 30, killed four Idaho State University students in their share house in Moscow, Idaho at around 4am on November 13, 2022. He was sentenced to prison for the rest of his life last month for murdering Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20 and Ethan Chapin, 20. Two other flatmates, Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke, were unharmed. Kohberger came to a plea deal that saw him admit to the murders and waive his right to appeal in exchange for not getting the death penalty. Still many nanswered questions remain about the gruesome case that captivated the world — mainly Kohberger's motive, but also why Ms Mortensen and Ms Funke were left alone. Especially given Ms Mortensen saw the man, later identified as Kohberger, in their house the night of the murders. In an interview with local newspaper Idaho Statesman, prosecutor Bill Thompson, who put off retirement to see the case through, said Ms Mortensen's recollection of seeing a man in black with a face mask and bushy eyebrows walking towards the second-floor sliding glass door was consistent over several interviews. 'From what Dylan described, I have a hard time imagining that the killer did not see Dylan,' Mr Thompson told the newspaper. 'At that point, he'd been in the house probably longer than he planned, and he had killed more people than he planned … It wouldn't surprise us that the killer was scared at that point and decided they had to leave, not knowing if law enforcement already had been called.' Mr Thompson told Idaho Statesman the order of the victims' death is not entirely clear. It is believed Ms Goncalves or Ms Mogen may have been who Kohberger was targeting because it appears he immediately went to the third floor. The house had three floors. The top floor was where Ms Goncalves and Ms Mogen lived. Ms Mortensen and Ms Kernodle lived on the second floor, and Ms Funke lived on the first floor in the 'basement'. Mr Chapin was Ms Kernodle's boyfriend. Ms Mortensen had moved from her room to stay in Ms Funke's room in the basement during the night after seeing a strange man in the house. Late in the morning, she called Emily Alandt, a friend who lived across the road, and asked her to come check out the house, saying something strange had happened during the night but she didn't know if she was dreaming. 'She was like, 'something weird happened last night, I don't really know if I was dreaming or not but I'm really scared, can you come check out the house?'' Ms Alandt said on Amazon Prime's docuseries One Night in Idaho: The College Murders. Ms Alandt and two other friends, Josie Lauteren and Hunter Johnson, met Ms Mortensen and Ms Funke outside the house. Mr Johnson went into the house and found bodies, telling them to call 911. 'What if it happens again?': Survivor speaks publicly for first time An emotional Dylan Mortensen spoke publicly for the first time since the brutal murders at Kohberger's sentencing. 'What happened that night changed everything,' Ms Mortensen said through tears. She described her friends as 'beautiful, genuine, compassionate people' and did not address Kohberger by name. 'He didn't just take them from the world. He took them from me. My friends. My people who felt like my home. The people I looked up to and adored more than anyone,' the now 21-year-old said. 'He took away my ability to trust the world around me. 'What he did shattered me in places I didn't know could break. 'I was barely 19 when he did this. We had just celebrated my birthday at the end of September. I should have been figuring out who I was. I should have been having the college experience and starting to establish my future. Instead, I was forced to learn how to survive the unimaginable.' She continued: 'I had to sleep in my mom's bed because I was too terrified to close my eyes. Terrified that if I blinked, someone might be there. I made escape plans everywhere I went. 'If something happens, how do I get out? What can I use to defend myself? And who can help?'' She went on to describe debilitating panic attacks — 'the kind that slam into me like a tsunami out of nowhere'. 'I can't breathe, I can't think, I can't stop shaking,' she said. 'All I can do is scream because the emotional pain and grief is too much to handle. My chest feels like it's caving in. 'Sometimes I drop to the floor with my heart racing, convinced something is very wrong. 'It's far beyond anxiety. It's my body reliving everything over and over again. My nervous system never got the message that it is over, and it won't let me forget what he did to them.' Ms Mortensen said she is forced to scan every room she enters and flinches at sudden sounds. 'He stole parts of me I may never get back. He took the version of me who didn't constantly ask 'what if it happens again? what if next time I don't survive?'' She referred to Kohberger as 'a hallow vessel, something less than human, a body without empathy, without remorse'. 'He chose destruction. He chose evil. He feels nothing. He tried to take everything from me: my friends, my safety, my identity, my future,' she said. She said speaking was her way of getting justice for Ms Mogen, Ms Goncalves, Ms Kernodle and Mr Chapin. 'He may have taken so much form me but he will never get to take my voice,' she said. 'He will never take the memories I had with them. He will never erase the love we shared, the laughs we had, or the way they made me feel seen and whole. Those things are mine.' She said she would go on to live her life while he would stay 'empty, forgotten and powerless'. 'Why did I get to live?' While fellow surviving housemate Bethany Funke did not speak, a statement was read out on her behalf by friend Emily Alandt. 'I thought that we were going to wake up and go upstairs see them and tell them how they had scared us and they were going to tease us about how we are constantly scaredy cats and make jokes about it as we would go to Taco Bell as always,' Ms Funke said in her statement. She said she woke up with 'no idea what happened' but it turned out to be her 'worst nightmare'. 'I still carry so much regret and guilt for not knowing what happened and not calling (911) right away even though I understand it wouldn't have changed anything, not even if the paramedics had been right outside the door,' she said. Kohberger was not arrested until more than a month after the quadruple murder. In the meantime, strangers online turned on the surviving housemates and their friends. Ms Funke said she received death threats and attacks online while 'trying to survive emotionally and grieve'. She also noted she was scared that the murderer would come for her next. She expressed feeling survivor's guilt. 'I hated and still hate that they are gone but for some reason I am still here and I got to live,' she said. 'I still think about this every day: Why me? Why did I get to live and not them? For the longest time, I could not even look at their families without feeling sick with guilt.' She said she had not slept through a single night in years, constantly waking up in a panic. 'I slept in my parent's room for almost a year. I made them double lock every door, set an alarm, and still check everywhere in the room just in case someone was hiding, and I still check my room every night,' she said. She said while she is still scared to go out in public, she forces herself to live for her late friends and does everything with them in mind.
News.com.au
5 hours ago
- News.com.au
New Zealand woman arrested after travelling with 20yo child in suitcase
A New Zealand woman was arrested on Sunday after travelling on a bus with a two-year-old girl trapped in her luggage. Detective Inspector Simon Harrison said the woman had been charged with ill-treatment and neglect of a child. Police were called to a bus depot in Kaiwaka – 100 kilometres north of Auckland – after the bus driver became concerned about a bag moving during a scheduled stop. 'When the driver opened the suitcase, they discovered the two-year-old girl,' Harrison said. 'The little girl was reported to be very hot, but otherwise appeared physically unharmed.' The luggage had been stored beneath the bus passengers, in a separate compartment. Harrison said the girl is in hospital undergoing an extensive medical assessment. A 27-year-old woman was arrested. Harrison said the driver prevented 'what could have been a far worse outcome'. He said further charges are possible. New Zealand's Ministry for Children, Oranga Tamariki, had been notified.
