A man who shot dead his mate by mistake and murdered a drug dealer during a botched cannabis heist was “motivated by greed” and the deaths were the result of an “unsophisticated plan”.
Armed with a shotgun, Norden Wilio, 26, and his friend Ali Ali, 28, went to a home in Meadow Heights, in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, with the plan to steal marijuana from a man named Deniz Hasan in March 2019.
But the heist quickly turned bloody with Wilio killing 40-year-old Mr Hasan by shooting him in the head and unintentionally shooting Mr Ali.
The court was told in his “haste” to flee the scene, Wilio used a shopping trolley to drag his dying mate to a home hundreds of metres away where he knew the residents.
When the trolley tipped over and Mr Ali spilt out onto the ground, Wilio left him to die.
The 26-year-old was found guilty of two counts of murder and attempted armed robbery after a trial in December 2021.
Lawyers for Wilio had argued it was Mr Ali who had the gun and shot Mr Hasan before shooting himself by accident, but that was rejected by the jury.
On Thursday, Justice Andrew Tinney sentenced Wilio to 35 years’ jail with a non-parole period of 26 years in Victoria’s Supreme Court.
Justice Tinney said Wilio’s not guilty plea showed he had little remorse for his violent crimes.
“This was an unsophisticated plan motivated by greed,” he said.
“Your attempted armed robbery in a quiet suburban street was a serious crimexjmtzyw.
“The murder of Ali was not your purpose, but you are responsible. Brandishing a shotgun was dangerous and outrageous.”
He described the murder of Mr Hasan as shocking and brutal.
The court was told the shooter had ADHD and was impulsive.
At the earlier hearing, his lawyers argued Wilio didn’t flee the scene, but tried to get help for his friend.
However, this reason was probed by Justice Tinney, who told the court on Thursday the accused “sought to evade responsibility” and had “scant regard for the welfare of his injured friend”.
“You interrupted what should have been the tranquillity of a quiet street,” Justice Tinney said.
During a pre-sentence hearing in the Supreme Court of Victoria on Thursday, Wilio’s father gave evidence about his son’s early life.
Bashar Wilio became emotional toward the end of giving evidence after asking to speak about the victims’ families and his concerns about seeing his son since he was now 60 years old.
“I don’t know if I’m going to see my son outside again,” Mr Wilio told the court.
“Everybody is losing,” he said through tears.
Wilio has already served more than 800 days of pre-sentence detention.
