6 days ago
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A man who survived three public place shootings has been charged with being the “principal organiser” of the daylight execution-style killing of bikie associate Marvin Oraiha.
Oraiha, 24, was sitting in a car outside his home in Elizabeth Hills, in Sydney’s south-west, on the afternoon of May 22, 2023 when he was ambushed and executed in the house’s driveway.
Marvin Oraiha, 24, was shot dead in his car in Elizabeth Hills on May 22, 2023.
“It’s as bad as it gets. I think it’s an awful crime. Really, really shocking for the family, for the people who live in that street, for his girlfriend,” Detective Acting Superintendent Virginia Gorman said at the time.
Two cars were later found alight in nearby suburbs.
On Wednesday, police said they had arrested the “principal organiser” of the murder, which investigators will allege was organised at the behest of the Comanchero bikie gang.
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Tuifua Vailena Koloamatangi, 29, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with murder and knowingly directing the activities of a criminal group.
He was refused bail to appear before Burwood Local Court the same day.
“Police will allege he was the principal organiser of Marvin Oraiha’s murder – recruiting, co-ordinating, instructing, and paying the criminal enterprise that carried out the shooting on behalf of an Organised Criminal Network,” police said in a statement on Wednesday.
Last year, the Herald revealed that Koloamatangi had survived three public place shootings over a four-year period.
In October 2024, he was shot as he sat in a car in the driveway of a relative’s Winston Hills home, catching four bullets in the chest, leg and arm.
In 2023, Koloamatangi was ambushed as he left an underground car park in Campsie in Sydney’s south-west, in what police described at the time as most likely targeted.
In both incidents, burnt out cars were found alight in nearby suburbs in what police have described having as the hallmarks of a gangland shooting.
In 2020, Koloamatangi was sitting in a Toyota Camry with a friend when two men opened fire. He was shot in the arm.
All three crimes remain unsolved.
In the 18 months since Oraiha’s murder, investigators have arrested 10 other people they allege were involved including the gunman, and the supplier of the weapon who also allegedly instructed the shooter.
Investigators also released CCTV of Oraiha at Westfield in the city on the afternoon of his death, “seemingly being watched by two males who are texting on their mobile phones”.
Further CCTV released by investigators shows two men running from a black Prado towards a blue Honda Accord on Lewis Street in Bonnyrigg Heights.
It’s alleged one of the offenders was still carrying a firearm and pointing it at onlookers at the time.
Detectives have also begun an investigation into a non-fatal shooting in a Marrickville barbershop that they say is linked.
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