Bali cops uncover crucial clue in investigation into alleged gunman accused of killing Aussie gangster in luxury villa
The DNA of the Australian man executed in an alleged gangland killing in Bali has been discovered on the shoe of a suspect.
Zivan ‘Stipe’ Radmanovic, 35, was shot dead in front of his wife Jazmyn Gourdeas shortly after midnight on June 14 at a villa in Munggu, in Bali’s south.
A second man staying in the villa, Sanar Ghanim, 34, was left seriously injured in the alleged attack.
The episode is understood to be connected to Melbourne’s feuding Middle Eastern crime syndicates.
Senior Commissioner Ariasandy said on Friday that officers were one step closer to establishing who killed Mr Radmanovic.
‘We found evidence linking the perpetrator to the items found at the crime scene… DNA on the suspect, which turned out to be the victim’s DNA,’ he said.
‘This is one of the strongest pieces of evidence that indicates the suspect is the perpetrator, the executor of the crime.’
Three Australian men – Paea I Middlemore Tupou, 26, Mevlut Coskun, 23, and Darcy Francesco Jenson, 27 – have been arrested and may face the firing squad if found guilty.
Bali Police said they are closer than ever to proving who killed ‘Stipe’ Radmanovic (pictured) who was killed in his villa in Bali on June 14
Radmanovic was shot dead in front of his partner Jazmyn Gourdeas
Sanar Ghanim (pictured) was shot several times but survived the alleged attack
The three accused remain in custody while police build their case which is now waiting on test results, Snr Comr Ariasandy said.
‘Our investigators are still working to find the connection of all the pieces of evidence found so that we can confidently assume that they are the culprits,’ he said.
‘There are still some test that haven’t been complete, and these will later be used by investigators to reconstruct the incident, which we suspect to be premeditated murder.’
The DNA breakthrough by investigators adds to evidence found at the crime scene including CCTV footage, invoices, rented vehicles and hotel bookings.
The revelation comes after a skin–care clinic in Melbourne’s south, owned by Ghanim’s partner and Ms Gourdeas’ sister Daniella, was firebombed at 11.15pm on Thursday.
Nobody was in the Toorak Road shop and police are now searching for those responsible who currently remain at large, Nine News reported.
Daniella had been in Bali with her boyfriend and sister when the alleged murder occurred.
Ghanim’s girlfriend, Daniella Gourdeas, was in the villa at the time of the fatal incident
Daniella’s skin–care shop in Melbourne was attacked in an alleged arson attack at 11.15pm on Thursday
She told Bali Police she woke up as the gunmen burst into Ghanim’s bedroom and she heard an ‘explosion’.
The shop owner said she heard more gunshots and a window being smashed as the hit squad ran from room to room in the villa before she fled for her life.
‘The witness [Daniella] ran out of the villa where she saw two motorcycles [or scooters] parked outside while she heard more gunshots,’ a police officer said at the time.
‘[She ran to] the main road where she asked for help.’
When Ms Gourdeas returned to the villa with other bystanders, Jazmyn was trying to stem Ghanim’s bleeding as emergency services arrived.
At the scene Police found 17 bullet casings and 55 bullet fragments at the scene.
Bali Police revealed how the gang of suspects allegedly fled across Indonesia after the shooting, escaping the scene on motorbikes before switching cars twice on an 18–hour, 1200km getaway to Jakarta.
The three can be held without charge for months while police investigate the killing.
Ms Gourdeas also has links to Abdulrahim, who was shot dead in Melbourne in an ambush by an underworld hit squad in January.
He was a regular on her social media account, frequently praising her photographs online before his brutal execution as he drove out of an underground car park at the Preston apartment block where he was secretly living.
