Three Australians accused of gunning down Melbourne underworld figure in Bali reveal their side of the story: ‘It all went sideways’
Three Australians have detailed how a plan to ‘scare’ an underworld figure into paying a debt turned into an alleged bloodbath at a luxurious villa in Bali.
Mevlut Coskun, Paea I Middlemore Tupou and Darcy Francesco Jenson fronted a Balinese court on Monday following the alleged assassination of Zivan Radmanovic and injury of Sanar Ghanim on June 14.
Prosecutors claimed Ghanim was shot six times while Radmanovic was beaten with a sledgehammer before being fatally shot. Both men have links to Melbourne’s underworld.
They had been staying at a villa in the area of Munggu with their partners, with Radmanovic’s wife, Jazmyn, was celebrating her 30th birthday.
Coskun and Tupou are accused of using a sledgehammer to break into the villa under the cover of darkness and attack Ghanim and Radmanovic while Jenson allegedly kept lookout.
Jenson is also accused of organising the logistics of the trip in the months before the alleged attack – including accommodation, car hires and scooter rentals.
All three men were arrested in the days after the alleged shooting as they tried to flee the country.
Mevlut Coskun, 22, on Monday told the court about his life in Sydney and why he was willing to get involved in the shady job that was supposedly about collecting a debt.
Mevlut Coskun, Paea I Middlemore Tupou and Darcy Francesco Jenson have recounted the night of June 14 (pictured is Paea I Middlemore Tupou, left, and Mevlut Coskun, right)
The three Australians are accused of killing Zivan Radmanovic (pictured with his wife, Jazmyn)
Coskun told the court he is a ‘hard worker’ who does landscaping.
‘I work every day. At this point of time, I was looking to get engaged with my partner, so I needed money. I live with my father. He’s got a broken back. He can’t work and I’ve got five siblings in school.
‘My main source of income was for my house and I couldn’t really save for for my future,’ he said.
Coskun claimed the alleged plot to travel to Bali was suggested to him by a ‘friend’.
‘My friend said there is opportunity in Bali. I asked, ‘What kind of work is it?’,’ he told the court.
‘It was prompt. I was sent a username on an app called Threema. I was told by my friend, there’s an opportunity to collect money from someone that owes his friend.’
Despite having allegedly accepted the debt collection job, Coskun claimed he had received no payment.
‘At this moment, I haven’t received any money,’ Coskun said.
Coskun and Tupou are accused of killing Radmanovic and injuring Sanar Ghanim while Jenson (pictured in white shirt) allegedly stood watch outside the men’s villa in Bali
Ghanim (pictured) was shot six times while Radmanovic was beaten with a sledgehammer before being fatally shot
Coskun said he paid for his own lawyer ‘because of what happened to the guy that is deceased, unfortunately’.
When asked for the identity of the person Coskun’s ‘friend’ put him in touch with, the 22-year-old said he didn’t know him.
‘I don’t know anything about him,’ he said.
‘All I know is my friend told me that this is a guy you don’t say no to.
‘He promised me a holiday – not a holiday but a short relaxation for five days and go warn this guy to pay up. Pay money.
‘The guy I came to warn was Sanar Ghanim.’
Coskun claimed he didn’t understand the extent of the plot against Ghanim and Radmanovic until he was too deeply involved with dangerous people.
‘Before I came to Bali I sent my passport to this person. He has my address, everything,’ Coskun said. ‘I was told by my friend that you cannot say no.’
The three Australians claimed they didn’t intend for the incident at the villa to turn deadly (pictured, the crime scene)
On the night of the alleged hit, Coskun claimed he and his co-accused were told to retrieve a bag of guns from an isolated spot near the villa where their alleged targets were staying.
‘When I was in Bali, I was getting tattooed and I got a message from the guy telling me and Tupou to come back (to the villa).
‘Around 20 metres, near the rice field next to the villa, there was a photo of guns in a bag. I took the bag, which I was instructed to do, and got back to the villa. From there… What do I do? I’m already in too deep.
‘He has my passport, my family’.
Coskun ended his testimony with an apology to the alleged victims and a claim that he did not fatally shoot anyone.
‘What I’ve done is not okay and I’m ashamed of what I’ve done to Sanar Ghanim,’ he said.
‘But I had never stepped foot into the deceased victim’s room. I’m sorry to the family, that person was never supposed to die.
‘I never shot him. I never shot Zivan. I never was in the room. I shot Sanar Ghanim. I didn’t shoot Zivan.’
Tupou (pictured) said he had agreed to go to Bali and scare Ghanim over an apparent debt due to the financial burden he faced helping care for his 10 siblings on top of his own two children
Similar to Coskun, Paea I Middlemore Tupou, 27, told the court he was a hardworking tradie in Melbourne.
He helped his family care for his 10 siblings, five brothers and five sisters, on top of his own two children.
However, the financial burden was beginning to take a toll so when presented with the opportunity to make some extra money, Tupou said he accepted.
He claimed he’d been instructed to ‘scare’ Ghanim into paying a debt.
‘I was told in Australia it was just a bashing,’ Tupou said of the alleged attack.
‘Then when I came to Indonesia, that’s when it changed.’
Tupou was then asked why, if Ghanim was the target of the alleged attack, was Radmanovic killed?
‘The reason why he got shot is because I thought he was Sanar (Ghanim),’ he said.
The three Australians (pictured walking to court) were given a chance to testify on Monday
‘I didn’t mean to shoot him. I didn’t intend to shoot him. It just happened so fast and everything just went sideways.
‘After (the alleged shooting) I said to him, ‘Sanar, you need to pay the money’. He said, ‘I’m not Sanar’.
‘I was shocked and freaking out, and I fled on my scooter.’
Darcy Francesco Jenson, 27, revealed to the court why he’s refused to name the Australian man behind the alleged plot.
‘I was using Threema directly with the Australian national that I wish not to identify,’ he told the court on Monday.
‘Originally, I didn’t who this type of person was.
‘After seeing what happened, I believe if he can find someone in Bali and carry out a crime against them, then he’d be able to hurt me or my family in Australia.
‘Identifying him would would cause me, or more importantly my family, harm.’
Coskun and Tupou (left) claimed they did not know the identity of the man behind the alleged hit plot, while Jenson (right) said he could not identify him as he could harm his family
Jenson has been accused of planning out the logistics of the alleged attack – including paying for accommodations and buying the sledgehammer allegedly used on June 14.
‘The people who physically handed me the money were different each time,’ he said.
‘The first time it looked like someone of Russian descent and the second time was a Bali local.
‘But the reason for receiving the funds was to pay for whatever I was doing, whatever I was buying.
‘The majority of the funds were used for renting the villa, renting the cars – those things related to what was happening in Bali.’
Jenson, who previously worked as a plumber in Sydney, said he met with Coskun and Tupou three times before the alleged attack.
Jazmyn’s mother, Radmanovic’s former mother-in-law, cried as Jenson apologised for his alleged role in his death.
‘I know I apologised before but no one was here to hear it, so I’d like to apologise today while I have the chance,’ Jenson said.
Jazmyn’s lawyer, Sari Latief (pictured), said Radmanovic’s loved ones want to know the motive for his death
‘I’d like to apologise for my accessory to this crime, and for my accessory to the nightmare that your daughter had to experience,’ he said.
‘That will stay with her for the rest of her life.
‘Not only her but her children, her family and the friends of your son-in-law.
‘I’m truly, deeply sorry, and I don’t need any reply. Just would like to pass on my apologies and my regret.’
Jazmyn’s lawyer, Sari Latief, told reporters after the hearing that Radmanovic’s family were most concerned with finding out the reason for the alleged attack.
‘Today is trying to find out what was the motive – of course the family, that’s what they want to know,’ she said.
‘It is what it is with what they explained, so they understand the motive.
‘It’s sad that Zivan (Radmanovic) was in the wrong place at the wrong time.’
Jenson (pictured) and Coskun both claimed to have used the encrypted messaging app Threema before the alleged attack
Threema, which has repeatedly been mentioned in the trial, is a Swiss-made messaging app.
The messenger offers end-to-end encryption and has been favoured by criminals, extremist cells and organised crime bosses as it requires no traceable information from the user and has strong encryption.
Prosecutors have argued the shooting was premeditated and well-coordinated, partially through Threema.
If convicted, the alleged killers face life imprisonment or the death penalty under Indonesian law.
