The South Australian Supreme Court has heard details of a "cascading series of events" between two rival bikie gangs – the Finks and Hells Angels — that led to the death of Jason De Ieso, who was not the intended "target".
Mr De Ieso was gunned down in his Pooraka crash repairs workshop in November 2012, with the court hearing he had no role in an ongoing dispute between the gangs.
In his opening address, prosecutor Jim Pearce KC said the incident took place after a series of alleged brawls, home invasions and drive-by shootings between the two rival gangs.
Husain Alzuain, 35, Mohamed Alzuain, 31, Musa Ali Alzuain, 30, Daniel Mark Jalleh, 34, Ross William Montgomery, 38, Seywan Moradi, 36, Kyle Lloyd Pryde, 34, and Nicholas Sianis, 36, are all facing murder charges.
Mr Pearce said the men are alleged members or associates of the Hells Angels "North Crew" – which is a branch of the gang.
On the day Mr De Ieso died, Mr Pearce said the group were retaliating after the Alzuain home was firebombed the night before.
"Somebody forced open the front door and threw a Molotov cocktail," Mr Pearce said.
"Fortunately, the damage was contained, but unfortunately in other respects, the damage had been done."
Mr Pearce said by that point, the real damage had been done to the pride of the Hells Angels "North Crew" and to the Alzuains.
"The retribution that followed would be swift, severe and culminate in the death of Mr De Ieso," Mr Pearce said.
On the afternoon of the alleged murder, the prosecution said the accused travelled to a tattoo parlour in Salisbury North that was owned by Finks member, Charles Bonnici.
"The accused believed the Finks were responsible for the firebombing," Mr Pearce said.
"Eyewitnesses will describe the group variously wearing hoodies … a large group of men entering the tattoo parlour and trashing the place — assaulting staff members."
The prosecutor said Mr Bonnici was not at the parlour but at Mr De Ieso's workshop.
He said by the time the accused arrived at the Pooraka business, Mr Bonnici had left moments before.
"It's possible that the target left on the road as the attackers passed each other like ships in the night," Mr Pearce said.
"The men walked up to the roller door, produced their firearms and then fired."
Mr Pearce said it was "chaos" for staff who were at the workshop, with the jury expected to hear about the "gruesome aftermath" of the incident.
"They sought shelter wherever they could find," he said.
The prosecution said Mr De Ieso was just leaving the front office when the shooting started.
"The man who shot Mr De Ieso was standing at the entry to the workshop – not much more than a few metres away from him," Mr Pearce said.
"The gun was pointed at him, it was, on the prosecution case, 'point blank range'."
Mr Pearce said the gun used was a sawn-off shotgun and the deceased suffered from catastrophic injuries to his brain.
The trial continues.
