Australia’s 10 biggest bikie arrests, including accused Nick Martin shooting ‘mastermind’ David Pye

Violent brawls, car bomb killings and shooting murders - these are the hallmarks of the most high-profile OMCG arrests. The alleged murder for hire of Nick Martin is the latest shocking allegation. David Pye - Mongols The public execution of Nick Martin rocked the State but the allegations against the man who police say orchestrated the hit have been more shocking. Former Rebel turned Comanchero and now Mongol David Pye is alleged to have offered more than $1 million to kill Martin, former Comanchero gang ally Ray Cilli and a woman. A 35-year-old former Australian soldier carried out the December 12 execution of Martin at Perth Motorplex but neither Cilli nor the woman were killed. Martin was allegedly murdered for $150,000 but the bounty on Cilli, who moved to Thailand several years ago, was more than $700,000. Pye was once a close confidant of Martin and has been in prion since March after being arrested for unrelated offences. While in jail he has patched over to the Mongols, a gang believed to be on good terms with the Rebels, making the murky world of Perth’s underworld even murkier. Martin’s killing and the brazen nature in which it was carried out brought a renewed focus on Perth’s outlaw motorcycle gangs with the taskforce dedicated to finding Martin’s killer cracking down on bikies across the State. Police this week did not rule out more arrests in the Martin probe or if they would let up on the gangs. Troy Mercanti - Mongols Despite spending years under the police spotlight as an underworld crime target, it was testimony from his own mum that finally put Troy Mercanti behind bars. The one-time Coffin Cheater and Fink, who is now a senior Mongols bikie, had long been drawing police attention before eventually being jailed in 2013 for domestic violence offences. Most notably the then-Coffin Cheater was in a private area of Metro City on Roe Street on a summer’s night in 2005 when an argument with a member of the Scorpion Boys street gang spiralled out of control. It ended with the bikie shooting Nabil Dabag four times after the gangster used a boning knife to flay open Mercanti’s chest, arms and neck. The bloody encounter was caught on CCTV but Mercanti was acquitted. Eight years later Mercanti was jailed for six years and 10 months after he was convicted of assaulting his former partner Tammy Kingdon. Ms Kingdon told how Mercanti punched, kicked and “king-hit” her, resulting in a fractured cheekbone, knocked-out tooth and fractured ribs. In two incidents Ms Kingdon had pleaded for help in the street while naked. Mercanti initially fought the charges, with his lawyer calling Ms Kingdon a liar. But when his mother, Sybil Yvonne Mercanti, told the court she had seen him punch Ms Kingdon at a family Christmas event in 2006, he changed his plea to guilty. That blow had knocked out Ms Kingdon’s tooth and left the family traumatised. More recently, Mercanti has found himself in trouble with the law for associating with other gang members, with him banned from doing so as part of his release order. Mercanti is set to stand trial over the allegations, which include police claims he attended a fellow bikie’s funeral in NSW. Kwinana Motorplex Brawl - Coffin Cheaters and Finks The feud between the Coffin Cheaters and the fledgling Finks over high-profile turncoat Troy Mercanti erupted on October 2010 when members of the clubs unexpectedly turned up at the event at Kwinana Motorplex. Two carloads of Finks had just arrived at a public staging area where racers were preparing their modified motorcycles when they spotted a passing Coffin Cheater. One spat at him from the car and the Cheater retaliated by punching him through the window. As the Finks piled out of the car, ready for a brawl, they were set on by several Cheaters, with others running from around the venue to join in. The clash put three Finks bikies in hospital. David Marrapodi, a long-time friend of Mercanti, was shot in the leg, while Stephen Wallace had three of his fingers severed. Troy Smith suffered head injuries in the attack. Several Coffin Cheaters also sought medical treatment. The 2010 Motorplex brawl was so wild, and the bikie code of silence so complete, that the Corruption and Crime Commission was brought in to help with the police investigation. The bikies were hauled into the CCC’s so-called star chamber as part of Operation Tri-Star and threatened with long jail terms if they didn’t answer questions. Wallace and Smith, along with fellow Finks Stephen Laurence Silvestro, Neil Sydney McCormick, and Tristan Roger Allbeury, refused to acquiesce to the CCC’s rarely used powers of compulsion. Wallace argued with Commissioner Len Roberts-Smith about taking an affirmation or oath. When Mr Roberts-Smith explained the oath was taken on the Bible, Wallace replied: “I don’t know what the Bible is, mate.” He took the affirmation before answering each question put to him with the answer “no comment”. Fink nominee Allbeury also used the “no comment” line and answered 14 of the questions with “f… off” or “get f…ed”. Fink associate McCormack was warned there would be consequences if he did not answer. However, he told the commissioner: “I can see more consequences if I answer — I don’t see youse going to anyone’s funeral.” The commission was met with silence from Silvestro and from Smith. The men were hit with more than 40 charges including refusing to answer questions, failing to take an oath, and insulting the CCC. Several went to jail. Andrew Edhouse - Club Deroes During the violent war between the Coffin Cheaters and Club Deroes, in 1998 and 1999 Andrew Edhouse was accused of killing Coffin Cheater Marc Chabriere in Welshpool in 1998. The war was sparked when Kevin “Mad Mick” Woodhouse defected to the Coffin Cheaters. During a series of tit-for-tat attacks, the first of which was the attempted shooting murder of Woodhouse, Edhouse’s brother was badly bashed in Bayswater in June 1998. Several months later Chabriere was shot dead in a car. It was not until March 1, 2000 — almost two years later — that Edhouse, who had recently moved to Perth from Kalgoorlie, was charged with Chabriere’s murder. He was also charged with the attempted murders of Cheaters Anderson and Woodhouse. But after a trial spanning 41/2 weeks which took place with unprecedented security, it took less than a day for a jury to find Edhouse not guilty of fatally shooting Chabriere and attempting to take out Anderson and Woodhouse. Months before his arrest he was one of the last people seen with Lisa Govan in Kalgoorlie. The 28-year-old went missing that night and is presumed murdered. Her disappearance was the subject of The West’s ground-breaking documentary Catching Lisa’s Killer: Fear and Murder in Kalgoorlie. Sidney ‘Snot’ Reid - Gypsy Jokers The State’s biggest bikie supergrass Sidney John “Snot” Reid broke the bikie code of silence to cut a deal with police over his role in the high-profile assassination of former police officer Don Hancock. After being kicked out of Hancock’s pub the Ora Banda Inn in 2000 for harassing his daughter Gypsy Jokers Reid, Billy Grierson and Graeme “Slim” Slater went to a campsite nearby. Later that night Grierson was shot dead with Hancock the prime suspect. The bikies quickly took revenge, firebombing the pub weeks later. Then on September 1, 2001, as Hancock and his bookie mate Lou Lewis were returning from the Belmont Park races in Lewis’ 1981 Commodore, a massive explosion ripped apart the car as it was turning into Hancock’s Lathlain driveway, killing both men instantly. The crime shocked the nation and when Reid was arrested in February 2002 he confessed to placing an explosive device under Lewis’ car and claimed Slater used a mobile phone to detonate the device, whispering “Rest in Peace, Billy” in honour of his dead mate. While Reid was sentenced to 15 years jail Slater was acquitted in a bombshell decision that rocked the WA justice system to its core. Nikola Maksimovic - Comancheros He’s the suburban dad who police allege is a bikie linked to one of Perth’s biggest drug rings. Nikola Maksimovic, a father with a young family living in Safety Bay, was arrested last year over the seizure of 59kg of methamphetamine after he returned from overseas. Mr Maksimovic has pleaded not guilty to conspiring to sell or supply methamphetamine and money laundering. Money laundering carries a maximum penalty of 20 years behind bars, while someone convicted for conspiring to sell methamphetamine could get up to 14 years in prison. Police had claimed he fled overseas to avoid capture, but his lawyers claim he was already overseas when he was labelled a “drug kingpin” in June last year. Investigators said Mr Maksimovic was also a senior member of the Comanchero. An earlier court hearing was told police executed a search warrant on a shipping container, which arrived from Victoria by rail on May 9 last year, where about 56kg of drugs was found in three plastic containers. Prosecutors say three containers were found under rolls of materials, including carpet and bubble wrap. The shipment was driven to Belmont where police allege Mr Maksimovic met a 45-year-old Victorian man and an exchange of hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash took place. It is alleged about 3kg of meth was also found after police executed a search warrant at a South Lake home on May 10. Ray Cilli - Comancheros The State Commander of WA’s Comancheros, Cilli fled the country after a failed prosecution over a murder charge he faced. It’s also been alleged that David Pye offered Nick Martin’s assassin more than $700,000 to kill Cilli. In 2019, he was charged with murder over an alleged prison bashing, with police alleging he issued the order for Alf Deon Eades to be killed, but the case against him was later dropped. Six other men were charged in relation to the murder after allegedly beating to death Eades. The 46-year-old was found injured in his cell at Hakea Prison and died about two weeks later. Two years earlier a court heard Cilli allegedly ran a knife along his throat as he drove alongside an unmarked police car laughing at officers. Earlier this year Cilli was accused of conspiring with criminal lawyer Ted Dobson to threaten Christian Tachev — a vape business owner charged with burying 15kg of meth in bushland across Perth. Cilli and Dobson were allegedly snagged through the global ANOM sting. In June, police revealed some of the country’s biggest drug dealers, including Mafia and triad figures, were fooled into delivering their plans straight into authorities’ hands via the encrypted app ANOM they thought was safe. The Trojan horse app, ANOM, had been developed by Australian Federal Police and the FBI with the help of a convicted drug trafficker in the US. Broadbeach brawl - Bandidos It’s the public bikie brawl that shocked the nation and saw innocent bystanders almost caught in the crossfire. But all 18 former Bandidos bikies, including riot ringleader, escaped with fully suspended jail sentences, fines and in one case even a good behaviour bond over what became known as the Broadbeach Bikie Brawl. Other bikies charged over the brawl were acquitted or had charges dismissed or downgraded. Those charged were among about 50 Bandidos who “roared” into Broadbeach on the night of September 27, 2013, to hunt down Teamo’s rival Jason Trouchet. A wild brawl erupted outside the Aura lounge bar, sending diners fleeing in terror as enraged bikies threatened and yelled obscenities at police. Restaurant staff grabbed knives and forks off tables in case they were used as weapons, and locked patrons inside. Among the Bandidos involved were Brett “Kaos” Pechey and Ricky Chapman who have both found themselves in yet more bikie trouble in WA. In 2013, Pechey was dubbed Queensland’s most wanted man after he fled to Thailand following the infamous bikie brawl. He was jailed in WA in September 2020 over “bizarre” and “menacing” drug-fuelled threats to kill police. Chapman, whose partner is Rebels boss Nick Martin’s stepdaughter, was sitting alongside him when he was shot and killed at Kwinana Motorplex on December 12. He was taken to hospital after the bullet ricocheted into his arm and was later returned to prison after breaching his release by associating with other bikies at the Motorplex. Mick Hawi - Comancheros One of the most violent brawls in bikie history played out to shocked passenger at Sydney Airport in 2009. Several Comancheros led by national president Mahmoud “Mick” Hawi were on the same flight as a posse of Hells Angels, including boss Derek Wainohu. After arguing on the plane and calling for reinforcements when they landed the large-scale melee broke out with Anthony Zervas fatally stabbed He was bashed with a 17kg bollard and stabbed in the chest and abdomen. Hawi was one of six Comancheros bikies to be charged with murder over Anthony Zervas’ death and the only one convicted. He was jailed for 28½ years. But the conviction was overturned on appeal in 2014 and he was in turn re-sentenced to six years and two months for manslaughter. Nearly a decade after the infamous airport killing Hawi was gunned down while parked in his 4WD outside a Sydney gym. Milperra Massacre - Jock Ross - Comancheros It remains the single worst outbreak of bikie violence the world has ever seen. On Father’s Day, in the carpark of a rural NSW pub, the simmering hatred between the Comancheros, and a breakaway faction who had become the Bandidos, exploded. It was supposed to be a swap meet for car and bike parts. But the Comancheros, led by founder Jock Ross, were heavily armed and ready for war with baseball bats, machetes, chains, iron bars, knives and knuckledusters. And many, many guns. Soon after, more than 30 Bandidos arrived, also armed to the teeth. A single shot into the air from a rifle signalled the start of the anarchy — which erupted around the hundreds of innocent bystanders. Parents were throwing their children over the fence in a bid to save their lives. A pregnant woman pinned herself to the ground as the bullets flew over her. Those gunned down included Jock Ross, who was shot twice but somehow survived, while 21 others were seriously injured. Aside from the six dead bikies the death of 15-year-old Leanne Walters shocked the nation. Caught in the crossfire she was shot in the head. “It was the closest thing I have ever seen to a battlefield, there were dead bodies, there were walking wounded, there were ambos, there were cartridge cases, baseball bats, guns,” NSW Detective Michael McGann later said. “The magnitude of the thing was what got me — I had never been to a massacre. They declared war on society.” The massacre led to Australia’s longest murder trial after which 30 men were jailed. Ross would serve the longest jail term — of just over five years.