分类： society

On May 8, a Victorian court reached a guilty verdict in one of Australia’s most shocking recent contract killing cases: 25-year-old Jaeden Tito and 26-year-old Rabii Zahabe were convicted of the brutal murder of underworld figure Gavin Preston and the attempted murder of his companion Abbas Maghnie. As the sentencing phase of the trial gets underway, the case has drawn new attention for the heart-wrenching testimony from Tito’s mother, whose public conflict over her son’s actions lays bare the human fallout of gang-related violence.

The murder itself unfolded in broad daylight on September 9, 2023, at a popular suburban cafe called Sweet Lulu’s in Keilor, Melbourne. Preston, 50, was sitting outdoors eating breakfast with Maghnie when two masked gunmen, who had lain in wait for hours, opened fire. Preston was killed instantly in a hail of bullets, while Maghnie suffered life-threatening wounds. Investigators later confirmed Maghnie survived only by chance: one of the assassins’ weapons jammed mid-attack, stopping them from firing the fatal shot that would have killed him. To date, Maghnie has refused to cooperate with police investigations into the shooting. Both Tito and Zahabe have maintained their innocence throughout the trial, despite the jury’s guilty verdict.

In an emotional letter to the court — drafted with assistance from ChatGPT — Levi Tito, Jaeden’s mother, opened up about the devastating impact of her son’s conviction on her family. One of six children, Jaeden grew up as a protective older brother to his siblings and a constant source of joy for the household, she told the court. “I do not write this letter to excuse his behaviour but rather to share with this court the person I have known,” she wrote. “Your Honour, I understand my son’s actions have had devastating consequences … I continue to see kindness, compassion and humanity within him.”

She added that even in custody, her son has kept in close contact with the family, sending regular letters and cards and taking up quiet hobbies like reading and colouring. These small acts, she said, confirm that the caring son and brother she raised has not disappeared entirely. “When we learned of his arrest … Our world changed completely,” she said. “We deeply long for the day he can come home to us but we understand that day is not near.” As Levi Tito spoke, Preston’s fiancee Lauran Howe, who was in attendance at the court, sat with her head in her hands, confronting the pain of losing her partner.

Prosecutors, led by senior counsel Kristie Churchill, are pushing for the harshest possible sentence: life imprisonment for both men, arguing that the pre-planned, public nature of the killing demands the maximum penalty. “We say this was a murder that was extensively planned, it was sophisticated,” Churchill told the court. “This was a public execution that exposed many members of the public going about their lawful business to the execution.”

Defense lawyers for both hitmen have pushed back against life sentences, noting that while the pair were convicted, there is no evidence they were the masterminds behind the plot. Paul Smallwood, representing Zahabe, argued that his client’s young age and the harsh conditions of his pre-sentencing custody should be taken into account. Daniel Sala, Tito’s attorney, echoed that point, emphasizing that the two men were nothing more than small parts of a larger criminal operation. “They are not the driving force behind it,” Sala said.

The court has heard that both men are currently being held in protective custody due to the underworld connections of the victim, which puts them at significant risk of attack from other inmates. While the identity of the person or group that ordered the hit has not been confirmed, prosecutors acknowledged during the trial that Preston had a long criminal history and no shortage of enemies who may have wanted him dead.

Justice Michael O’Connell, presiding over the case, noted that even if the pair were not the main organizers, they were fully aware of every detail of the plot. “Your clients seemed to know about all that planning and take advantage of it to make a getaway which enables them to get to Sydney within a couple of hours,” he said. The pair will return to court at a later date for their final sentencing, after the justice has considered all arguments from both the prosecution and defense.

After seven days of dramatic evidence presentation in a high-profile Brisbane Supreme Court murder trial, both prosecution and defence have wrapped their cases, leaving the future of accused killer Mark Sheridan Waden in the hands of a 12-person jury set to begin deliberations Monday. Waden has entered a firm not guilty plea to the 2018 murder of Priscilla Brooten, a US citizen who disappeared without a trace from the Bracken Ridge home the pair shared, with her body never located despite years of investigation.

Crown prosecutors laid out a damning circumstantial case arguing the killing followed a volatile relationship that erupted into a fatal argument on July 5, 2018. Prosecutor Andrew Walklate told jurors Brooten discovered private Facebook messages showing Waden was carrying on a secret relationship with a younger female colleague, triggering a day of tense exchanges between the pair. Phone records, diary entries, and counselling documents obtained by the prosecution paint a picture of a relationship mired in crisis, described by Walklate as a “pressure cooker scenario” that had been building long before that fateful July day. Brooten’s own notebook, left behind at the home after her disappearance, contained a chilling entry: she wrote she had threatened to ruin Waden’s life by exposing his unlicensed marijuana business and publishing details of a prior assault where he had nearly killed her.

Walklate outlined that only four plausible explanations exist for Brooten’s complete disappearance: her former boyfriend Steven Thompson killed her, she remains alive in hiding, she died by suicide, or Waden killed her. He stressed that all available evidence points exclusively to the fourth scenario, adding that all evidence points to a deliberate killing rather than an accidental death. Notably, both the prosecution and defence have ruled out Thompson as a suspect, with Walklate describing him as a kind man who remained close to Brooten after their relationship ended and cared deeply for her well-being. Thompson was the one who first reported Brooten missing when all contact abruptly stopped, and spent months independently searching for clues about her fate.

Key pieces of the Crown’s case include the suspicious timing of a 4-metre trench Waden arranged to be excavated at his property just 24 hours after Brooten vanished. Walklate said the urgent excavation, booked through the gig work platform Airtasker, was intended to hide Brooten’s body, the murder weapon, or other evidence tying Waden to the crime. Prosecutors also point to a series of text messages sent from Brooten’s phone to Thompson the day after she was allegedly killed, which contained text saying Brooten was leaving and that Thompson should not attempt to find her. Walklate argued the messages were a fabrication sent by Waden to create the false impression Brooten had left the country voluntarily.

Further suspicious evidence cited by the Crown includes varying explanations Waden gave to friends and acquaintances for Brooten’s sudden absence – he claimed she had fled Australia over debt with dangerous criminal groups, that she had unresolved immigration issues, and that she had chosen to cut off contact. Prosecutors say these conflicting stories were part of a deliberate campaign to divert attention from the killing. They also point to a mysterious 2018 phone call to the US Consulate made by a man claiming to be Thompson, which alleged Brooten was being held against her will in the non-existent location of “Winchester, Maryland”. Thompson has denied making the call, and Walklate argued it was another false trail planted by Waden to confuse investigators.

Since July 2018, there has been no confirmed trace of Brooten: no banking transactions, social media activity, border crossings, hospital admissions, or credible sightings have been recorded. Walklate noted the complete lack of contact is especially notable because Brooten did not reach out even after her own mother died, an absence that would be unthinkable if she were still alive. Brooten left all of her personal possessions – including clothing, makeup, and identification documents – at the shared home, further undermining any claim she left voluntarily.

For the defence, barrister James Godbolt urged the jury to acquit Waden, arguing the entire case against his client is based entirely on circumstantial evidence that fails to meet the legal standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Godbolt reminded jurors that even if they suspect Waden may have killed Brooten, or think it is probable he did so, that standard is not sufficient for a guilty verdict. “If you don’t get to beyond reasonable doubt, Mark Waden should be acquitted of murder,” Godbolt told the court.

Godbolt pushed back against every key part of the Crown’s narrative, starting with the trench excavation: he said the work was part of a long-planned front-yard landscaping project, pointing out the illogic of burying a body in a front yard along a busy road when a private backyard was available. Testing of soil from the trench turned up no trace of human remains, and no forensic evidence linking Waden to Brooten’s death has ever been found, he added.

The defence laid out alternative explanations for Brooten’s disappearance, noting the US citizen had a long history of severe depression and self-harm, with expert assessment placing her in the severe to extreme range of the condition. Godbolt argued suicide remains a plausible outcome, or alternatively that Brooten – who had been living unlawfully in Australia using multiple aliases – chose to disappear and live off the grid to avoid authorities. He also heavily criticized the police investigation into Brooten’s disappearance, calling it “inadequate to the extreme” for failing to thoroughly explore alternative leads and the possibility she remains alive.

Justice Peter Callaghan is scheduled to deliver his final instructions to the jury on Monday, after which jurors will retire to decide whether the prosecution has proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.

Northern Ireland has been rocked by a second consecutive night of violent unrest, triggered by a recent stabbing in Belfast and stoked by far-right agitation targeting migrant communities. Senior UK government officials have labeled the violence unabashed “racist thuggery”, after 16 people were arrested and 12 police officers were injured during Wednesday’s clashes.

The unrest first erupted on Monday, following a knife attack that left local man Stephen Ogilvie seriously injured. A 30-year-old Sudanese national, Hadi Alodid, appeared before Belfast magistrates on Wednesday charged with attempted murder, and was remanded in custody ahead of a next hearing scheduled for July 8. Within an hour of the attack, footage of the incident was posted to the social platform X by far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, and was subsequently amplified by X owner Elon Musk, turning a local criminal incident into a tinderbox for anti-immigration rage.

On Tuesday, the first major night of violence left the region reeling: masked rioters set vehicles and buildings ablaze, forced dozens of families from their homes, and forced Northern Ireland’s largest main mosque to close its doors for the first time in its 46-year history. Mosque chairman Mohammed Arshed noted that the community had never faced such severe, nearby unrest since opening in 1978.

Violence spilled into a second night on Wednesday, when AFP correspondents on the ground witnessed dozens of masked agitators clashing with riot police into the late hours. Rioters set a civilian car and a boarded-up property on fire, and hurled projectiles including petrol bombs and bricks at officers responding to the unrest. Police deployed water cannon and mounted charges to push the rioters back, after the group attempted to advance on a local hotel that was being used to house asylum seekers. Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn confirmed that while the scale of Wednesday’s disorder was smaller than Tuesday’s widespread violence, the harm and fear inflicted on vulnerable communities cannot be understated.

“It was really important to convey the sense of fear that has been created, above all for those who were intimidated, burned out of their houses by masked thugs on the basis of the colour of their skin,” Benn told Sky News Thursday. Benn also added that authorities had received troubling reports of commuters being stopped and interrogated about their nationality while traveling to work. One such incident targeted a nurse en route to her shift at Belfast’s Ulster Hospital, who was chased and intimidated by rioters. Hospital officials praised the nurse for completing her shift despite the terrifying encounter, noting her bravery stood in stark contrast to the rioters’ actions.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer quickly condemned the violent scenes as “shocking and completely unacceptable”, while Ogilvie’s own family issued an appeal for calm, urging the public not to use their family’s “terrible tragedy” to divide communities and fuel hostility. Ogilvie, who lost an eye in the attack, remains in stable condition as he recieves medical care.

The unrest also spilled over to the Scottish city of Glasgow, and comes as anti-immigration sentiment simmers across the United Kingdom, stoked by far-right political groups. Most of Tuesday’s violence was concentrated in Protestant unionist areas of Northern Ireland, where some protesters expressed anti-immigration views shared by far-right groups across the country. One protester, who gave only his first name John, said that many working-class people felt they had been manipulated by political leaders, and shared widespread anxiety over rising migrant arrivals across Europe. Accounts linked to self-described “patriot” groups have flooded social media with the attack footage, urging supporters to join protests against mass migration.

Immigration has long been a polarizing hot-button issue in UK politics, and has helped drive the recent rise of the hard-right Reform UK party led by Nigel Farage. Violent anti-immigration protests have become increasingly frequent across the country in recent years. Tensions were already running high across the UK before the Belfast unrest: last week, skirmishes broke out in southern England after far-right groups criticized police handling of the murder of a white student by a British Sikh man.

Local residents in Belfast expressed deep dismay at the violence tearing through their tight-knit communities. A 28-year-old local resident who assisted in evacuating neighbors told AFP: “It’s just sad, this is a really close-knit community.” Another local, 50-year-old plumber Brendan who joined the protests, said no one supported the violence, noting that decades of sectarian conflict that ended with the 1998 Good Friday peace deal had already left the region weary of unrest. But he added that many shared anger over the stabbing, which had rallied disparate groups together.

Two months after a convicted inmate vanished from a supervised funeral visit in Melbourne, Australian authorities have turned to the public for fresh tips, releasing new closed-circuit television footage in a bid to reignite the stagnating manhunt.

Forty-seven-year-old Orijol Rukaj has not been spotted by law enforcement since he slipped away undetected mid-service on April 25, when he was granted temporary, supervised release from custody to attend a funeral at Keilor East Cemetery in Melbourne’s northwestern suburbs.

After eight weeks of intensive searches across the state that yielded no confirmed sightings, Victoria Police have announced a new push for public assistance, publishing additional CCTV clips captured inside the correctional facility that show Rukaj at multiple timepoints. Investigators hope the newly released images will jog the memory of members of the public who may have encountered the fugitive since his escape.

In a public statement detailing the progress of the manhunt to date, police confirmed that officers executed visits to 20 separate properties across Melbourne’s metropolitan area on June 9 to question Rukaj’s known associates. Following those inquiries, investigators confirmed they now believe the escaped inmate remains hiding somewhere within the Melbourne region.

The investigation has also uncovered that multiple people allegedly helped Rukaj plan his escape, though all suspects believed to be involved are currently outside of Australia. Police added that Rukaj has documented ties to Albanian organized criminal networks, further underscoring the urgency of the manhunt.

Law enforcement has released a detailed public description of the fugitive: he is a Caucasian male with a thin build, standing approximately 176 centimeters tall, with hazel eyes and short, shaved brown hair. He speaks with a Southern European accent, and was last seen wearing a white collared shirt, a black suit, and a pair of Asics athletic trainers.

Victoria Police have issued a clear warning to the public: anyone who spots Rukaj should contact emergency services via the triple-zero emergency line immediately. Members of the community with any relevant information that could help investigators locate the fugitive are asked to either visit their nearest local police station or contact the anonymous Crime Stoppers hotline at 1800 333 000.