Rapper stopped for Oporto after allegedly stabbing man

3 weeks ago 9

A man who allegedly murdered talented rugby league player Sitaleki Filihiahekava outside a Sydney Mexican restaurant is accused of briefly fleeing the scene before returning to pick up his girlfriend’s takeaway order from a nearby venue.

Jacob Tammer-Spence, a 31-year-old rapper who created music from jail, allegedly fatally stabbed 32-year-old Filihiahekava in the heart on the main street of Marrickville in Sydney’s inner west on September 23 last year.

Sitaleki Filihiahekava was stabbed on Marrickville Road.

His then-partner, Amma Atuahene Cust, was recently sentenced to a 15-month community correction order after pleading guilty to hindering Tammer-Spence’s arrest, while his 56-year-old mother Sarah Tammer has pleaded guilty to the same offence.

Tammer-Spence has pleaded not guilty to murder.

Two sets of court documents released by the Downing Centre Local Court and Burwood Local Court outline the almost-identical statement of facts signed by Cust and Tammer, meaning they have admitted to those facts, while Tammer-Spence has not.

According to allegations in those fact sheets, 30-year-old Cust ordered takeaway from fast food restaurant Oporto on Marrickville Road shortly before 7:30pm on September 23.

Jacob Tammer-Spence, who raps under the name Rapper Snoee Badman, has been charged with murder.

Going to collect the food, Tammer-Spence walked along Marrickville Road at the same time as Filihiahekava and two other men were leaving Guzman y Gomez, on the corner of Silver Street.

Tammer-Spence walked past the store before turning back to the corner where the group of men stood. Filihiahekava then stepped towards Tammer-Spence and “words were exchanged”, the facts state.

“The deceased was stabbed to the right front chest which caused a penetrating wound to the right side of the heart,” the documents, disputed by Tammer-Spence, read.

“Tammer-Spence then ran away north bound down Silver Street, colliding with a street sign before returning to collect the Oporto’s [sic] takeaway and running away along Silver Street”.

Filihiahekava collapsed and was treated by an off-duty emergency doctor and paramedics but died at the scene.

Flower tributes left in Marrickville for Sitaleki Filihiahekava in the days after his death.

The documents state Tammer-Spence briefly went home, where Cust was, before running across the street and hiding the murder weapon in a nearby backyard. Cust then got into her white Hyundai i40, picked up Tammer-Spence and drove away.

The fact sheet claims that, at 6:25am the next morning, Cust messaged Tammer-Spence’s mother, saying “Sarah something bad has happened”.

“Three men tried to attack Jacob last night when he went to get me dinner. He’s ok, but I need you to contact [redacted] please and tell her to call Joe asap for Jacob, he needs the lawyer.”

Later that morning, Cust and Tammer-Spence drove north out of Sydney on the M1 Pacific Motorway, but a mechanical issue forced them to pull into a carpark in the Central Coast suburb of Kariong, near Gosford.

After the Hyundai was towed away, Tammer picked the couple up and drove them back to Sydney. The documents state that Tammer suspected her son had committed a serious and violent offence.

Tammer allowed the couple to stay at her house overnight. The next afternoon, she drove them to a house in Concord in Sydney’s inner west, where Tammer-Spence was arrested.

Police spoke to Cust and Tammer in the five weeks after the alleged stabbing, but say both women declined to provide any information before they were arrested and charged.

Tammer-Spence is set to fight the murder charge at a NSW Supreme Court trial late next year.

Filihiahekava, who wore the number 10 jersey when playing for Mascot Juniors Rugby League Club, was described by the club as a “much loved player”.

An online post published following his death said that he “played with his heart on his sleeve (and always with a joke and a smile), every time he took the field with those he called his brothers”.

“RIP Leki ... you will be missed by everyone at Mascot Juniors RLFC.”

Soon after the alleged murder, Tammer-Spence began rapping under the name Snoee Badman and uploading music videos to TikTok after being encouraged by his cellmate.

“The music scene helped me so much, it kept me occupied … at least I was doing something positive,” he said on a podcast.

He later recorded a mixtape titled Three Bad Men from his cell by sending voice recordings to producers, who would overlay it to a beat and create cartoons for music videos.

Tammer-Spence is set to fight the murder charge at a NSW Supreme Court trial late next year.

A fourth person, Michelle Anderson, has pleaded not guilty to hindering an investigation into a serious indictable offence and will next face the local court in December.