An assassin who executed a bikie leader in a sniper-style attack confessed the crime to his girlfriend, claiming he was executing a covert government operation, a court has revealed.
The 39-year-old former soldier, now a contract killer and whose identity is protected for legal reasons, was responsible for the death of senior Rebels bikie Nick Martin at the Perth Motorplex on December 12, 2020.
Reports suggest the hit was allegedly commissioned by Martin’s adversary within the criminal underworld, who is currently facing trial for murder.
The assassin employed a .308-calibre rifle to shoot Martin from over 300 meters away, as Martin sat in the spectator area of the racetrack.
Despite being surrounded by other Rebels bikies serving as his bodyguards, Martin was amidst the public enjoying the motorsport event.
The bullet pierced through Martin’s body, exiting from his lower back, and continued on to hit another man in the arm, inflicting serious injury.
The convicted murderer returned to the witness box on Monday at the trial of David James Pye, 43, who allegedly paid the killer $100,000 for the hit at the racetrack.
Pye has pleaded not guilty to six charges including murder.Â
Nick Martin (pictured with Amanda Martin) was gunned down at a Perth motorsport eventÂ
David James Pye, 43, allegedly paid the sniper to take out Martin (pictured in 2013)Â
His barrister David Hallowes SC questioned the trial witness about claims he made to his girlfriend, who also cannot be named, after Martin was gunned down.
‘She said something along the lines to you, ‘did you kill Nick Martin?” the lawyer said.
‘I told her that I killed Nick Martin of my own volition,’ the ex-army reservist said.
‘You told her that you were a spook for the Australian government, correct?’ Mr Hallowes said.
‘She asked, yes,’ the gunman said.
Mr Hallowes suggested the former artillery gunner told his girlfriend he was on a top-secret government mission when he executed Martin.
‘Yes, I misled her. I let her assume that it was still related to things going on,’ the hitman said.Â
‘To protect her.’
The sniper lied to his girlfriend that he was a spy on a top secret mission, a court heard
After that, the witness proposed to her and they became engaged, Mr Hallowes said.
‘You were willing to, at that stage, propose to this woman you’ve been telling this series of lies to?’
‘Yes,’ the shooter said.
He also admitted lying to Pye about working with the US Central Intelligence Agency, agreeing it was to ‘big note himself’.
Mr Hallowes also returned to the killer’s claim that Martin had raped an ex-girlfriend and that she killed herself.
The shooter agreed that as a result, he hated Martin who he viewed as a rapist, and that bikies were ‘terrorists’ and ‘pieces of s***’.
But the ex-soldier said he did not kill Martin off his own back.
The lawyer accused the shooter of being a compulsive liar and dishonest, which he denied.
‘You are lying to this court when you say that Mr Pye asked you to kill anyone and paid you any money for that purpose,’ Mr Hallowes said.
‘No,’ the ex-reservist replied.
The trial continues.
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