A young pregnant woman has been charged over the execution-style killing of an underworld crime figure as investigators hail one of the final pieces in their probe into a spate of a public shootings across Sydney.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 23-year-old was arrested and charged with the murder of Ferenc "David" Stemler, who was shot dead early on July 27.
A 27-year-old man was also arrested on Thursday and is expected to face a similar charge.
Mr Stemler was gunned down on a suburban street at Canterbury, in the city's inner southwest, in an attack police said had all the hallmarks of an underworld hit.
The 28-year-old was found by officers with multiple gunshot wounds and was treated by paramedics before he died at the scene.
He was the fifth person to be shot on a Sydney street in as many days.
The shootings prompted NSW Police to set up Taskforce Magnus to examine the killings, which were believed to be linked to organised crime networks feuding over the city's lucrative illicit drug trade.
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Michael Fitzgerald on Thursday said there were six organised crime-related murders in 2023, all of which had now resulted in charges.
He said the police operation had been an "unprecedented" success and there had been no public-place killings since July.
But Mr Fitzgerald said he could not guarantee the deaths would stop.
"Whilst we have this insatiable appetite for drugs within our community, there are always going to be individuals who use violence to ensure they profit from the sale of drugs," he said.
"So I'm unsure whether or not I can prove or show to the community that this will never occur again because it will."
More than 580 people had been arrested by officers from the task force and Mr Fitzgerald noted many of those charged had been careless in their crimes.
"Some of the activities, whilst they were violent (and) at times complex, certainly had an air of sloppiness or unpredictability," he said.
In the case of Mr Stemler's killing, Homicide Squad commander Virginia Gorman said the 23-year-old woman was "most likely a lackey doing tasks" and not the mastermind of the operation.
"We'll be alleging that she is part of the greater joint criminal enterprise in that she had knowledge before and after and engaged in acts to assist the principal offenders before and after," she said.
The woman was refused bail and appeared in Fairfield Local Court on Wednesday, when she was formally refused bail to appear in Parramatta Local Court on April 18.
The 27-year-old man was transferred from Parklea Correctional Centre to Riverstone police station, where he was arrested on Thursday ahead of an expected murder charge.
Australian Associated Press
