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An Adelaide drug dealer orchestrated the brutal bashing murder of a man he believed had posted a series of bad reviews about his "dodgy drug business" to social media, a Supreme Court trial has heard.
Key points:
- Victor Codea died after being bashed in the Adelaide High School car park in August 2020
- Four men are on trial for his murder
- The prosecutor told the court Mr Codea had left bad reviews of one of the accused men's drug businesses
Thomas Nicholls, 31, Thomas Pinnington, 25, Jeremy Sandell, 25, and Kain Mazomenos, 26, are standing trial for the murder of 24-year-old Ridleyton man Victor Codea.
He died a week after being bashed in the car park of Adelaide High School in August 2020.
All four men have pleaded not guilty to murder.
Justice Adam Kimber is presiding over the case in the absence of a jury.
Opening her case, prosecutor Lisa Dunlop told the court Mr Codea, Mr Sandell and a woman pulled up in the car park of Adelaide High before another vehicle "blocked them in" just after 9:30pm.
She said three men — Mr Mazomenos, Mr Pinnington and Mr Nicholls — got out of the car behind and immediately launched an attack on Mr Codea as he sat behind the steering wheel.
"This was a planned and coordinated attack, executed quickly and brutally," she said.
She said the woman was "terrified" and bolted from the car and hid in nearby bushes.
"[She] ran but what she didn't see, she could hear… she heard one of the men say, 'don't worry, this isn't about you'," Ms Dunlop said.
The court heard all four accused fled in the second car, and the woman took Mr Codea to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, but he could not be saved.
Dispute over bad reviews on Discord
Ms Dunlop said the assault was motivated by a barrage of "bad reviews" targeting Mr Sandell on social media platform Discord, which was used by those in the Adelaide drug trade to sell their products.
She said identities were protected by anonymous usernames and drug transactions could only take place inside a certain group that required an invitation to join.
The court heard comments centred on Mr Sandell being a "dodgy drug dealer".
"He was unhappy about what was getting posted … and he posted in defence of his product and his reputation," Ms Dunlop said.
The court heard another man was bashed because Mr Sandell incorrectly believed he had been responsible for the negative online reviews.
"The assault on him didn't end what was happening on Discord," Ms Dunlop said.
She said Mr Sandell — who went by the username "Winnie Blues" — was named in a post with his image and accused of being a police informant.
The court heard the posts were "threatening towards Jeremy Sandell" and included comments like "you're going to jail" and "police are going to lock Winnie Blues up".
"Jeremy Sandell as 'Winnie Blues' posts a response, 'hello Victor'," Ms Dunlop told the court.
She said it was clear Mr Sandell believed Mr Codea was responsible for the Discord reviews and told his girlfriend in a text message: "I'm just going to start swinging, no point asking questions".
Bill Boucaut KC, for Mr Sandell, told the court his client had pleaded guilty to manslaughter and the central issue at trial would be whether he had formed "any murderous intent".
Grant Algie KC, for Mr Pinnington, said his client was present at Adelaide High, but the "critical issue" would be whether his presence was part of a planned attack, or was he "in the wrong place, at the wrong time?"
Nick Vadasz and Gilbert Aitkin, for Mr Nicholls and Mr Mazomenos, did not open their defence cases.
The trial continues.