The former SAS sharpshooter who gunned down a Rebels bikie boss boasted while in high school that he was the most likely to become ‘Australia’s most wanted man’.
The 35-year-old made the warning two decades before he shot dead Nick Martin, 51, at Kwinana Motorplex, in Perth, on December 12, 2020.
‘Australias (sic) most wanted/in jail by the age of 20,’ he wrote in his high school year book.
The gunman fulfilled his prophecy of becoming a wanted man after evading police for three months following the shooting. He was then arrested in March.
Detectives believe the sharpshooter was hired by an underworld figure who is codenamed ‘The Baker’.
The former SAS sharpshooter who gunned down a Rebels bikie boss boasted while in high school that he was the most likely to become ‘Australia’s most wanted man’
Detectives believe the sharpshooter was hired by an underworld figure who is codenamed ‘The Baker’
Nick Martin (pictured) was shot in the back at the Perth Motorplex on December 12 in front of horrified families who were trying to watch the nitro cars high-octane drag racing
They believe the man wanted Martin killed before he organised the hit. They are yet to release details of his identity over fears of gang retaliation.
Police have not yet charged the man in relation to the public shooting, 7 News reported.
The former SAS mercenary sharpshooter who was hired to carry out the hit pleaded guilty to the assassination in Perth Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
The assassin, whose name is suppressed, also pleaded guilty to injuring Ricky Chapman, the boyfriend of Martin’s stepdaughter, who was wounded by bullet fragments.
The ex-SAS trooper is yet to enter a plea on other charges, including possessing a silencer, inadequately storing firearms, and drug possession.
The 35-year-old appeared via video link in his prison greens and in handcuffs and only spoke to confirm his name and to plead guilty.
During the shooting, a five-year-old boy was injured from bullet fragments but the charge relating to injuring the child was discontinued.
The shooter was arrested at his Perth home and charged with Martin’s murder in March and will face court again in December to be sentenced.
‘Australias (sic) most wanted/in jail by the age of 20,’ he wrote in his year book while he was in high school
Martin (pictured) died in the arms of his wife Amanda as she tried to give him CPR. His last words were: ‘babe, I’ve been shot’
After court, the man’s lawyer David Manera said he was handling life in prison ‘well’, ‘all things considered’.
‘Despite the nature of the charge, he’s quite a thoughtful person, he’s quite an intelligent person and he’s actually quite a sensitive person,’ he said.
‘I know that flies in the face of what he’s charged with but that’s how he appears to me.’
Mr Manera said he expected his client would receive a lengthy sentence, and hoped the outcome would provide some comfort to Martin’s family.
Martin was assassinated in front of hundreds of onlookers including his wife Amanda and stepdaughter.
After being hit, Martin told his wife ‘babe, I’ve been shot’, as she tried to give him CPR while he died in her arms.
Rebels bikie Nick Martin was ridden in to Pinnaroo Cemetery in a coffin covered in pictures of $100 bills (pictured) at his extravagant bikie funeral on December 23
A $1 million reward was offered for information leading to the arrest of the shooter who killed Nick Martin, 51, (pictured with wife Amanda)
The chaos at the racetrack on December 12 in Perth after Martin was executed is pictured
Police spent months on the investigation with 100 officers on the job, while the WA Government offered a $1 million reward to anyone who had information on the shooter.
His death also sparked a crackdown on bikies by police who conducted raids and ended up charging more than 100 people.
Martin’s funeral was held on December 23 with 200 police officers keeping a watchful eye on the proceedings.
A police sniper also watched on from a helicopter as the patched gang members headed south to say their final farewells.
Martin’s coffin was covered in pictures of $100 bills and Bob Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower played as bikies took turns to walk up and touch it as it was brought in under a marquee for the service.
More than 200 bikies from the Rebels and other clubs attended Martin’s funeral on December 23
One of the possible shooter locations previously identified at the Perth Motorplex. A long shot would indicate a sniper, experts say