The man charged over the alleged brazen daylight killing of a Sydney criminal lawyer led a globetrotting lifestyle in the years prior to the cafe shooting.
Accused assassin Arthur Kelekolio, 38, was arrested at the city’s international airport and accused of the alleged murder of Vietnamese migrant Ho Ledinh.
Kelekolio was just moments from boarding a one-way flight to Bali when he was nabbed by detectives about 10am Tuesday.
Social media accounts showed he had recently visited the Marina Bay Sands – a Singaporean hotel famous for its infinity pool – and other destinations includingFiji, the United States, Vietnam and India.
Victim: Ho Ledinh (right, with wife Huong and two of their six children) in Bankstown
Sydney man Arthur Kelekolio, 38 (left and right) has been charged over the alleged killing
Bali was clearly a favourite with the south-west Sydney man moaning on the Jetstar Facebook page about a cancelled flight in 2015.
That trip was foiled by a volcano eruption – and his latest adventure to the tropical paradise likewise never got off the ground.
Daily Mail Australia understands homicide police had not been planning to arrest Kelekolio immediately.
But their hand was forced when authorities detected he was en route to Indonesia.
‘Hi Arthur, we cancelled your flight today because you are under arrest,’ a punter joked
Kelekolio, after he was charged at Mascot Police Station on Tuesday afternoon
Police will allege Kelekolio was the man – dressed in a hi-vis – who shot Mr Ledinh about four times at the Happy Cup cafe in Bankstown about 3.35pm on January 23.
CCTV caught the gunman flezeing down an alleyway.
It will be alleged Kelekolio was staying at his parents’ home in Hammondville, within a few kilometres of the crime scene.
Detectives raided his family’s property and charged him with murder at Mascot Police Station on Tuesday evening and refused police bail.
His lawyer Adam Houda did not apply for bail on Wednesday morning.
This is the crime scene where Mr Ledinh was gunned down in a brazen daylight execution
Family friend Vivian Vo (front) broke down outside the Happy Cup cafe the next day
The motive of Mr Ledinh’s alleged killing remains unclear.
Kelekolio was due in court charged with one count of alleged drug possession next week.
Mr Ledinh’s friend – and shooting witness – Huu Chu Nguyen had suggested the lawyer’s links to criminals or his anti-communist views could be a motive.
Friends said Mr Ledinh was a good lawyer but a bad businessman, and records showed he was owing significant sums of money.
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