Source : Perth Now news
Holiday snaps from a young couple helped give police damning evidence they used to convict a ruthless killer.
Taken on a road trip through the NSW Central Coast, the innocent-looking pictures captured Jaeden Tito, then 22, and his girlfriend as they visited beaches, hotels and even a jewellery store.
But an injury on Tito’s left arm and a black backpack full of cash were used to link the young man to the brazen assassination of underworld figure Gavin Preston, 50, just days earlier and more than 1000km away in Melbourne.
Mr Preston was seated for breakfast with his friend Abbas Maghnie at Sweet Lulu’s cafe in Keilor when two masked and black-clad men opened fire on the pair, killing Mr Preston and critically injuring Mr Maghnie.
CCTV captured terrified patrons of the busy cafe ducking for cover as 11 shots rang out before attempting to try and render first aid to Mr Preston.
The killers then fled, leaving a trail of firebombed cars throughout surrounding suburbs.
The Victorian Supreme Court has released footage of the final movements of underworld figure Gavin Preston was shot dead in Melbourne.
This week, Tito and his co-offender Rabii Zahabe, 26, were jailed for 34 years after a jury found the pair guilty of murder and attempted murder.
The two Sydney men, who did not have any priors for violent offending, had been hired as contract killers by a mystery person to kill Mr Preston.
The underworld figure, the court was told, had only been released from prison five months earlier for shooting a man and had “amassed many enemies who might have liked to see him dead”.
“The police were provided with information that everyone, including Satan himself, wanted Gavin Preston dead,” Crown prosecutor Kristie Churchill SC said during the trial.
In his sentencing remarks, Justice Michael O’Connell described the contract killing as “meticulously planned”.
The planners of the hit, he said, had knowledge of Mr Preston’s routine and placed four stolen getaway cars with cloned licence plates in surrounding suburbs to effect a quick escape.
Tito and Zahabe had laid in wait for three hours near Sweet Lulu’s cafe and gunned him down in a 10-second attack before speeding off in an Audi Q5 shortly after 10am on September 9, 2023.
An hour later, Tito and Zahabe were in a chauffeur-driven car on their way back to NSW, arriving home that same evening.
But it was a bungled attempt to burn the Audi Q5 used in the shooting and Tito and Zahabe’s actions in the days following that helped seal their fate.
Just hours after arriving home, Zahabe took his phone off aeroplane mode and downloaded a photo of Mr Preston and his fiancee Lauren Howe.
His phone records also showed he searched online for “no extradition countries” and Islamic verses about forgiveness for sins.
Tito, on the other hand, checked into the Novotel hotel with his girlfriend the following day on September 10 and the couple set off to Salamander Bay for a four night trip.
While on the road, they took a series of happy snaps that captured burn injuries to his left arm.
His girlfriend’s bank records showed Tito made several cash deposits to her account and CCTV from a Prouds the Jewellers captured Tito pulling cash from his backpack to buy a $1000 silver bracelet for her.
Neither Tito’s girlfriend or Ms Howe were accused of any wrongdoing or knowledge of the men’s actions.
The burns to his left arm were linked to CCTV from Blair Court in Keilor, just two minutes after the shooting, when the killers dumped the Audi and changed vehicles.
In the CCTV, Tito could be seen accidentally setting his left arm on fire while firebombing the car and attempting to pat down the flames as he ran away.
A damaged white long-sleeved T-shirt later found dumped in a third getaway car had burn marks in the “exact same location” as Tito’s injuries in the holiday photos.
During the trial, Ms Churchill argued the burns were “perhaps the most significant piece of evidence identifying Mr Tito as the driver of the Audi and therefore the shooter at the cafe”.
Tito, who was arrested in October 2023, tried to explain his arm injury as a friction burn from falling off a bike.
DNA evidence from the getaway cars and clothing items, including two balaclavas found after the shooting, also linked the linked the two men to crime.
During a pre-sentence hearing, Tito’s mother Levi Tito told the court she was unable to reconcile his conduct with the “caring son and brother we have always known is still there”.
“He has always had a kind and caring nature, and his compassion for family friends and even strangers has been one of his defining qualities,” she said.
“I continue to see kindness, compassion and humanity within him.”
Handing down their sentences, Justice O’Connell said there were no known connections between Tito, Zahabe and Mr Preston or Mr Maghnie.
“The jury’s verdict reflects the fact that you each had made a deliberate and considered decision to kill Gavin Preston and to try to kill Abbas Maghnie, which you then carried out in ruthless and callous disregard for the value of human life,” he said.
“An execution, in a public setting for profit, is an act which must be unequivocally condemned.
“Although Gavin Preston had significant criminal convictions and might well be said to have lived his life outside of the law, it must be made clear that his life deserves the protection and vindication provided by the law, just as anyone else in our community.”
