‘Trail of evidence’: Teens charged over mistaken identity murder of innocent student

Two teenagers have been charged over the botched organised crime killing of an innocent university student at his family’s Sydney home, including a 14-year-old allegedly hospitalised with burn injuries resulting from attempts to destroy a getaway car.

Marco Tapia, 23, was shot dead in his bed after a group of assailants stormed the Glen Alpine house in the early hours of September 1. Police have since confirmed the wrong address had been targeted.

Marco Tapia, who was shot dead while in bed at his family’s Glen Alpine residence.Homicide detectives raided two homes in Fairfield about 10am on Wednesday and arrested two boys, aged 14 and 16, alleging the teens staged vehicles and provided the weapon.

The pair have each been charged with murder, participating in a criminal group to contribute to criminal activity, possessing an unauthorised prohibited firearm and two counts of driving a vehicle without the consent of the owner.

The 14-year-old boy was also charged with damaging a property by fire or explosion.

Homicide Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Joe Doueihi said the incident bore all the hallmarks of an organised crime killing, except the victim had nothing to do with Sydney’s underworld conflict.

“The Tapia family and Marco are innocent people, innocent parties, and were not the intended target of this offence,” he said.

Doueihi said the two teens were vulnerable, young and naive, but knew where their alleged actions were leading, and were significantly involved in Tapia’s death. He said, “it wasn’t very difficult” for police to track down the pair.

“They were, if I can use the word, very clumsy,” Doueihi said.

“They left a trail of evidence behind … the 14-year-old offender, as he attempted to burn the kill car, burnt himself in the process and ended up in hospital.”

Officers gather evidence outside the Glen Alpine home where Marco Tapia was killed earlier in September.Sam MooyThe boys did not apply for bail at Parramatta Children’s Court on Thursday and were remanded in custody to return to court on November 13.

Doueihi said the teenagers’ parents “were devastated and had no idea what was going on”.

“Unfortunately, young men are being targeted,” he said.

“They’re easily lured by the thrill and the financial incentive, but you know that’s a short-term gain for significantly long-term consequences.”

The Minns government last week announced new legislation to target organised crime networks and deter children from being lured by offshore kingpins contracting them for crimes. The laws expand the list of children’s serious indictable offences that can result in adult sentences, to include those linked to organised crime such as firebombings.

“The age of the people who’ve been accused of these offences is worrying for everybody in our community,” NSW Premier Chris Minns said in response to the two teens being charged.

Minns said his thoughts were with the Tapia family: “I can only imagine, to have a son who’s done absolutely nothing wrong, living his life, and be killed in his bedroom.”

Tapia was in his third year of a biomedical engineering degree at the University of Technology Sydney, where he had won awards and volunteered for Engineers Without Borders. His only known brush with the law was a minor traffic offence.

The Tapia family have recounted the “nightmare” attack on their Glen Alpine home.A Current AffairMarco’s parents, Sergio and Claudia Tapia, recounted the “nightmare” attack that claimed their son’s life, telling A Current Affair on Monday the violent onslaught happened “so fast”.

“I remember him taking his final breath,” Claudia said. “There was hate that came to our house.”

Police are still looking for the people who invaded the Glen Alpine home and pulled the trigger.

“It’s looking quite good, I can’t say anything further than that, but it is being progressed,” Doueihi said.

The arrests come as four Victorians were linked at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday to the gun used in Tapia’s fatal shooting.

Police allege that Vaifaalie Tuafuti, Omar Mohamed, Amenah Abusud and a child worked for the Alameddine crime family in its escalating feud against the Coconut Cartel.

The Victorians have not been charged over Tapia’s death, but are accused of a home invasion in Hurstville and shooting cars outside a Coconut Cartel-linked Turrella home the night before.

Ballistic analysis found discharged cartridge cases at the two scenes matched and were then “positively mapped” to the Glen Alpine homicide scene, where a firearm was found, a NSW Police investigator testified on Thursday.

Joshua Macdonald, 40, was shot dead at a home in Merrylands West the day after Tapia was killed, in another case police believe was a case of mistaken identity amid Sydney’s escalating gangland war.

Jimmy Schulz, 18, has been remanded in custody after being charged with murder on Friday for allegedly conducting drone surveillance a couple of streets away from the home where Macdonald was shot.

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