Accused winks at lawyer as four face court over deadly late night hunt
Four men have fronted court charged with murder following an 18-month investigation into the shooting death of a man who police say was chased down before being shot in a front yard.
Anwar Teriaki, 21, was shot dead on August 9, 2017 after being pursued along Coronet Avenue, in Roxburgh Park and in neighbouring streets.
Police allege his killers sat in a stolen Toyota Camry while they waited for him outside Mr Teriaki’s parents’ home for more than 30 minutes.
One of the men charged is the younger brother of a jailed underworld figure.
Police on Wednesday morning arrested the four men at homes in Mill Park, Roxburgh Park, Lalor and West Melbourne and later charged them each with one count of murder.
Maytham Hamad, 24, Ali Kadik, 22, Ahmed al-Hamza, 21, and Ali al-Khafaji, 22, fronted Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday afternoon and were remanded in custody.
Police allege the four men confronted Mr Teriaki when he arrived home about 12.26am and chased him when he got out of his car and ran. They had been waiting for him since 11.52pm, police allege.
Two of the men chased him, while the other two pursued in the Camry.
Mr Teriaki ran for about 300 metres, police say, until he was shot in the front yard of a home and the accused men all left in the stolen car.
They were brought into court two at a time and did not say anything during short administrative hearings. At one point Mr Hamad, dressed in a white T-shirt and blue jeans, winked at a lawyer seated in court.
Police had 200 hours of material gathered in telephone intercepts and five hours collected on listening devices, the court heard, that needed to be transcribed. Part of the material was in another language.
Magistrate Charlie Rozencwajg refused to grant police extra time to hand over a brief of evidence to defence lawyers, as investigators had had the material for more than a year. It was gathered across three months from late 2017, the court heard.
Police also need to test DNA collected from more than 30 exhibits against that of the accused men.
Defence counsel Steve Parker, for Mr Kadik, said his client needed to see a nurse after last week having stitches removed from a cut to his head.
Mr Hamad, of Mill Park, Mr Kadik, of Roxburgh Park, Mr al-Hamza, of West Melbourne, and Mr al-Khafaji, of Lalor, are due to appear before court again on May 7.
Police must have the brief of evidence ready for defence lawyers in seven weeks.