Two masked men who opened fire on underworld identities Gavin Preston and Abbas Maghnie as they ate breakfast outside a Melbourne cafe were allegedly contracted to kill the pair before fleeing Victoria with the help of a chauffeur.
But defence lawyers for Jaeden Tito and Rabii Zahabe – who faced the Supreme Court of Victoria on Tuesday for the opening day of the murder trial – told the jury the men did not have a motive to kill Preston, unlike other underworld figures.
Both men have pleaded not guilty to murdering Preston, 50, and not guilty to attempting to murder Maghnie as they sat outside Sweet Lulus cafe in Keilor on September 9, 2023.
Preston died at the scene, falling head first to the ground, while Maghnie dived out of the way, but was wounded in the torso and taken to hospital for emergency treatment.
Tito, 25, and Zahabe, 26, were arrested in NSW and extradited to Victoria weeks later.
“On a sunny Saturday morning in September 2023, Gavin Preston was sitting with his friend, Abbas Maghnie, ordering breakfast [at] an outside cafe at Sweet Lulus in Keilor when two armed offenders roll up in a stolen Audi Q5 … and open fire,” Crown prosecutor Kristie Churchill told the jury.
“The Crown case is the two armed offenders were Jaeden Tito and Rabii Zahabe.
“We say this was a contract killing. Planned, prepared, targeted, with other unknown people involved in the organisation.”
Churchill said Preston moved in underworld circles at the time of his death. On the day he was shot, the jury heard, he texted Maghnie and invited him to have breakfast at the cafe where he had been a regular for some time.
In the lead-up to the shootings, Churchill said four cars were stolen, fitted with cloned number plates and moved around the residential streets of Taylors Lakes and Keilor before strategically being left in place as part of the getaway plan.
She said a chauffeur driver, known as Mr Aslan, was hired by an unnamed person and was told to drive four people to Sydney on September 9.
“The chauffeur driver was put in place, we say, to move [the accused men] after the killing,” the prosecutor said.
The court heard CCTV footage showed two of the four cars, a Holden Cruze and an Audi Q5, drive near the cafe about 7am and park behind a nearby hotel.
Churchill said that at 8.28am, Maghnie received a message from Preston arranging to meet for breakfast after a gym workout at the Brimbank Aquatic Centre, and drove to the cafe in his Holden ClubSport.
“They’re seated outside in the outdoor dining area. Inside the cafe was full on a busy Saturday morning. You’ll hear Gavin Preston preferred to sit inside,” Churchill said.
CCTV footage played to the jury showed the Audi pulling up outside the cafe at 10.14am. Two people dressed in dark clothing and face coverings fired 11 shots at the two men, with the guns seen smoking as the shooters prepared to flee. One bullet struck Maghnie and seven struck Preston.
“Maghnie coincidentally turns his head and appears to see what’s about happen and starts running from [the] table, as patrons duck for cover,” Churchill said.
“The deceased did not appear to see what was about to happen. The impact of the gunshots cause him to bounce in his seat, slump forward, and fall headfirst onto ground where he remains.
“You won’t hear from Maghnie, and you’ll come to learn he has not been forthcoming.”
The prosecution alleges that after the shooting, Tito and Zahabe used the getaway cars to leave the area, set them alight and then fled through parks and streets to the waiting chauffeur, and Tito burnt his arm when one of the vehicles burst into flames.
On the way to NSW, one of the accused men allegedly said to the other “we are brothers now”, before Zahabe allegedly began Googling “no extradition countries” and forgiveness phrases from the Koran.
It is alleged Tito then spent the following weeks moving between hotels with his girlfriend, and buying jewellery with cash at a Prouds jewellery store.
Both men were arrested soon after, and DNA allegedly links them to some of the vehicles.
Churchill said one of the murder weapons was later found by police during an unrelated investigation last year.
Zahabe’s defence barrister, Paul Smallwood, reminded the jury that his client maintained he was not one of the shooters.
Smallwood also raised the possibility there were many in the community with a motive to kill Preston, and that Maghnie might have been accidentally struck by a stray bullet.
“It’s a circumstantial case. There are no witnesses who would say, ‘I saw the shooters and I recognise one of them to be Rabii Zahabe’,” Smallwood said.
“There is evidence that others seemingly wanted Gavin Preston dead.”
Daniel Sala, acting for Tito, urged the jury to keep an open mind throughout the trial, which is expected to run for some weeks before Justice Michael O’Connell.
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