A plastic drink bottle could be the key clue to unmasking the identity of a gunman who pumped up to four shots into a Vietnamese-born lawyer in a brazen shooting on Tuesday afternoon.
Detectives investigating the death of criminal lawyer Ho Ledinh, 65, scoured bins and piles of rubbish close to the train station and meticulously sorted water bottles into evidence bags early on Wednesday morning.
In CCTV footage handed to investigators, the mystery gunman could be seen taking a swig out of a water bottle prior to the brazen shooting at the Happy Cup cafe in Bankstown’s Old Town Plaza about 4pm.
Vietnamese-born lawyer Ho Ledinh (pictured with wife Ngo Thu Huong and two of their three children outside the cafe) was gunned down in broad daylight at a Bankstown cafe, in Sydney’s south west
Detectives investigating his death scoured bins and piles of rubbish close to the train station and meticulously sorted water bottles into evidence bags early on Wednesday morning
Meantime, close friends of criminal lawyer Mr Ledinh, Andy and Vivian, told Daily Mail Australia his three children would fly back to Australia today with his second wife.
‘We are very close friends (with Mr Leidhin),’ Andy said. ‘They are flying back.’
Blood marks were smeared on the floor tiles of the cafe where Mr Leidhin was shot, with tables sitting out the front still holding the cups of juice and cigarette-filled ash-trays which had been set down on them yesterday afternoon.
The accomplished lawyer worked just 50m away up the road from the franchise store.
The owner of a sex shop next door to the shooting said he heard three loud gun shots late yesterday. He said Mr Ledinh was well known in the area, he said, adding he believed he had owned the cafe until late last year.
In CCTV footage handed to investigators, the mystery gunman could be seen taking a swig out of a water bottle prior to the brazen shooting
Detectives wearing forensic gloves picked up numerous water bottles and sorted them into brown paper bags
The bottle could help find the killer using DNA if police could find it among the dozens discarded that day
Mr Ledinh had recently sent his 30-year-old wife Ngo Thu Huong and three young children to visit family in Vietnam without him.
His best friend Van Nguyen said Ledinh would usually have gone to Vietnam with his family – and he is not sure why they went without him this time.
‘They were very precious to him, he was a wonderful father and thought his wife was very beautiful,’ he said.
Ledinh met his wife after the breakdown of his first marriage – in the same coffee shop where he was killed, according to his friend.
‘They met in his coffee shop and fell in love when he made her a coffee,’ he said.
‘I think they were very happy, they got married and had the three children – and she got to move to Australia,’ he said.
The killer (pictured) was caught on nearby CCTV cameras wearing a hi-vis green jacket, just minutes before he approached Ledinh from behind and shot him with a handgun
Confronting images of the aftermath of the shooting show Ledinh lying dead outside the cafe after being shot four times
A witness told Daily Mail Australia she watched as the gunman left his victim lying bleeding on the floor of the popular cafe
Close friends of Mr Ledinh, Andy and Vivian, said his three children would fly back to Australia today with his second wife
The well-known criminal lawyer (pictured) was shot and killed in a ‘targeted attack’ in Sydney’s west on Tuesday afternoon
Police launched a massive manhunt for the gunman, who fled the scene in a getaway car after shooting Ledinh four times in the pelvic region.
CCTV cameras caught the killer wearing a hi-vis green jacket, just minutes before he approached Ledinh from behind and shot him with a handgun.
Police formed Strike Force Eugene to investigate the killing and are working to identify the shooter, described as having an olive complexion, possibly of Pacific Islander appearance, and a medium build.
Detective Superintendent Scott Cook said the gunman was last seen running down Stewart Lane, and police are unable to confirm witness accounts of seeing him escape in a getaway car driven by an accomplice.
‘At the time of the offence he [the gunman] was wearing a dark-coloured cap, dark sunglasses, high visibility vest, dark pants, dark shoes, grey gloves and a rain coat that was either dark green or black in colour,’ he said.
Police were looking into Ledinh’s clients, and are appealing for witnesses or anyone possessing CCTV, dashcam or other video footage of the area to come forward.
‘He was a criminal solicitor in the sense of that was his business, his practice. He had a lot of clients that are engaged in organised crime and other offences,’ said Detective Superintendent Cook.
A man fitting descriptions of the shooter (pictured in green) was seen running from the scene before being picked up by a waiting car
Police were pictured at the scene after the shooting just before 4pm as officers launched a manhunt for the fugitive gunman
No one else was injured in the shooting, which happened in front of shocked shoppers in broad daylight at a Bankstown cafe
Detectives believe the shooting to be a ‘targeted attack’ as they continue to hunt for the offender who fled the scene on foot
A witness told Daily Mail Australia she watched as the gunman left his victim lying on the floor of the cafe as he fled towards the station.
‘I got out of the car and just saw him on the floor out of breath,’ she said.
‘The guy that shot him ran towards the station wearing green clothing.’
A mother, who saw the shooting from a restaurant across the street, reported hearing four gunshots before watching cafe patrons flee the scene.
She said: ‘I was in a restaurant right across from the cafe, heard four gunshots and saw people running away from the scene.
The well-known lawyer (pictured right) had recently sent his wife and young children (pictured) to visit family in Vietnam
His ‘best friend’ Van Nguyen, pictured, told Daily Mail Australia the Ledinh would usually have gone to Vietnam with his family
‘I ran outside and saw shops closing their doors and people running to the cafe standing around. Called 000, people were saying the guy is dead.
‘My eight-year-old daughter was in hysterics, the poor thing screamed and ran behind the counter.’
Mr Ledinh’s family lived in a red-brick duplex a short distance from the popular café and legal practice for ‘about two years’, according to neighbours.
‘They are a very quiet family sometimes you here the children inside and they play in the yard but I haven’t seen the lady or kids for two weeks,’ one woman told Daily Mail Australia.
‘His wife told me a few weeks ago that she had to go back to Vietnam and didn’t know when she would see us next,’a neighbour said
Ledinh, his wife and their three children lived in the front of this modest duplex – they would often be seen playing in the yard by neighbours
The yard of the home lived in by Ledinh is piled with old toys and cafe-style tables and chairs, as laundry dries on clotheslines
‘They are a very quiet family sometimes you here the children inside and they play in the yard but I haven’t seen the lady or kids for two weeks,’ one woman told Daily Mail Australia
The home’s yard is piled with old toys and cafe-style tables and chairs.
‘I have only seen the man – he will smile of he sees us but is very quiet.’
The shocked owner of a neighbouring business said she couldn’t believe there was a shooting metres from her own front door.
The woman said she used to see the slain lawyer ‘from time to time’ and that he would smile but never talk.
‘I would talk to his wife but I would only say hello to him, there was no talking.
Police shut off the shopping strip following the brazen shooting, which took place in front of horrified witnesses about 4pm
‘His wife told me a few weeks ago that she had to go back to Vietnam and didn’t know when she would see us next,’ she said.
‘Now this has happened – I hope she is okay and with her family.’
Meanwhile Mr Nguyen, who spent time with the dead man just hours before, couldn’t hold back his feelings of disappointment and despair.
‘He is a true friend, would do anything for us. I couldn’t believe he was dead when I got the phone call.
‘He was my best friend… like my step brother. We didn’t have family here so we were each other’s family.
NSW Police confirmed Ledinh died of gunshot wounds at the scene after they attended the incident at Bankstown in Sydney’s west
‘I could tell him things I could never tell a wife or my mother or father – he would always listen and then tell me what I should do.’
No one else was injured in the shooting, which happened in front of shocked shoppers in broad daylight.
NSW Police confirmed Ledinh died of gunshot wounds at the scene after they attended the incident.
‘We do believe that it is a targeted attack – that’s how it appears at this stage,’ Acting Commander Brad Thorne said.
Born in Vietnam, Ledinh was a prominent lawyer with offices in Bankstown and he previously represented Phillip Nguyen, who was jailed for the shooting death of policeman Bill Crews in 2010.
Nyugen was jailed for 12 years for manslaughter of Mr Crews, a trainee detective, who died after being hit by bullets fired by Nyugen and a fellow police officer during a drug raid in Bankstown.
Thrown into the media spotlight while representing Nguyen, Ledinh well-known and popular in the local area, and is believed to have previously owned the Happy Cup Cafe.
Ledinh graduated from the University of New South Wales where he studied law and political science, and authored the English-Vietnanmese book Dictionary of Law.
Ledinh was a prominent lawyer with offices in Bankstown and he previously represented Phillip Nguyen, who was jailed for the shooting death of policeman Bill Crews in 2010