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“He said, ‘I’m a Commo’ ... I thought he was telling me he was a communist.”
This was one of the early interactions between a former soldier-turned-sniper and a Comancheros bikie boss who, together, would allegedly go on to carry out the underworld assassination of former Rebels boss Nick Martin at the Kwinana Motorplex in 2020.
A court sketch of bikie David Pye on the first day of his trial in the WA Supreme Court.Credit: Anne Barnetson
Five years later, on Thursday morning in the WA Supreme Court, the sniper and David Pye – the accused mastermind of the killing – came face-to-face with each other.
It was the second day of Pye’s murder trial, and, having pleaded guilty to firing the fatal shot, the sniper was now the prosecution’s star witness.
The highly anticipated trial has brought with it unprecedented levels of security, with marked and unmarked police vehicles lining the streets outside the court in Perth’s CBD, and specialised officers standing guard at each entrance, while others watch on from vantage points inside and around the building.
The witness box was ensconced in screening in preparation for the sniper – whose identity has been suppressed ever since he was arrested over the shooting in 2021 – to appear in person.
There is a heavy police presence outside court during David Pye’s trial.Credit: 9News Perth
Makeshift screens have also been erected to separate Pye from the public gallery as he sits in the dock.
Pye looked down at his notepad as the sniper was brought into the courtroom flanked by a security guard.
The 39-year-old witness adjusted his clothes before taking a seat and answering prosecutor Justin Whalley’s questions about his career, and how he came to know Pye.
He appeared nervous but eager as he detailed his work history, his involvement in the Australian Defence Force – including deployments overseas – and his volunteer work for an armed military charity in Iraq.
The man convicted of Nick Martin’s murder was a former soldier.Credit: Nine News Perth
He described himself as a “very experienced” firearms owner who, prior to his arrest, shot about 4000 rounds a year recreationally.
But on December 12, 2020, that hobby turned deadly when he hid in the bushes adjacent to Kwinana Motorplex and fired one round with lethal precision, piercing the body of Martin, 51, as he sat 365 metres away watching drag racing with his family.
The bullet exited Martin and struck his stepdaughter’s partner, injuring him.
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The court heard on Wednesday that, after the shooting, Pye allegedly sent the hitman a text with two coffin emojis and clapping hands.
The brazen underworld murder sparked one of the biggest police operations in West Australian history amid fears of retaliatory attacks.
After four months of silence, police arrested the sniper.
The error that caught him out? Exchanging the barrel used in the assassination at a gun shop that was being monitored by police who, up against the bikie “code of silence”, had kept an eye on firearms databases for any information matching the model of long-range rifle used in the killing.
The sniper rolled, admitted his part in the shooting, and took a reduced murder sentence of 20 years in exchange for his co-operation in Pye’s trial.
‘He was the dodgiest person I knew’: Drugs, bikie infighting, and an alleged deadly deal
The court was told the pair allegedly first came into contact in 2019, when Pye messaged the sniper via Instagram to ask about volunteering for the overseas military charity he worked for.
After returning to Perth due to injury, and suffering PTSD, the sniper claimed he turned to Pye in an attempt to acquire ecstasy during the pandemic, when illicit drug supply chains were being cut off by border closures.
“I messaged him and asked if he would be able to get some MDMA, he said, ‘Yeah sure, I’ll get you a kilo’, I said I don’t need a kilo, we’ll just take a couple of caps,” the hitman, laughing, told the court on Thursday.
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“He was the dodgiest person I knew, and I thought he’s a bikie, he’ll be able to get MDMA when no one else can.
“He said, ‘I’m a Commo’. I didn’t know what that was, I thought he was telling me he was a communist, but I figured out it was Comancheros.”
Sporting a short-back-and-sides haircut and a beard, and wearing a blue button-up shirt and dress trousers, the sniper’s first day of evidence portrayed a struggling ex-soldier who was living an ordinary life before, by unfortunate circumstance, he came into contact with a bikie who was out for blood, and saw the former serviceman as his ticket.
His alleged initial ignorance of bikie gangs and the ongoing infighting between the Mongols, Comancheros and Rebels stood in stark contrast to his life as one of the most infamous and protected prisoners in WA.
The sniper’s claimed motivation for being thrust into Perth’s violent underworld? The offer of $150,000 to kill Martin.
Weeks later, and with more than 100 police officers assigned to Operation Ravello to catch Martin’s killer, the sniper allegedly accepted another hit job from Pye, this time to kill rival bikie boss Ray Cilli, who was living in Thailand.
“Pye had some ideas about how the hit would be done. Obviously, I plan my own jobs,” the sniper said, adding he did not know who Cilli was before he agreed to take on the job.
“[Pye’s] had one idea to use an assault rifle to gun Cilli down outside a pub. It’s not the way I do things.”
However, Pye claims the sniper is a liar.
At times, while listening to his evidence on Thursday, Pye gently shook his head and scoffed as the former soldier detailed the alleged timeline of events.
“[Pye] said their relationship soured when he defected with members of Roc City to the Comancheros,” the sniper said.
“He said Nick Martin wanted to put a hit on him, and he wanted to put a hit on Nick Martin.”
The trial continues.
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