{"id":511513,"date":"2026-03-01T09:45:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T09:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/511513\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T09:45:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T09:45:16","slug":"a-bali-birthday-and-a-mistaken-murder-how-shooting-death-of-melbourne-father-played-out-in-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/511513\/","title":{"rendered":"A Bali birthday and a mistaken murder: How shooting death of Melbourne father played out in court"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a violent raid and shooting that shocked the Island of the Gods.<\/p>\n

In the middle of a Saturday night last June, Melbourne father Zivan Radmanovic was shot dead in a Bali villa, while his wife Jazmyn Gourdeas hid in fear.<\/p>\n

In another room of the villa a second man, Sanar Ghanim, was shot but survived.<\/p>\n

Three Australians in their 20s \u2014 plumber Darcy Jenson, landscaper Mevlut Coskun and carpenter Paea I Middlemore Tupou \u2014 were soon arrested after an international manhunt and brought back to Bali.<\/p>\n

For months the trial of the three men has been playing out one day a week in a cramped courtroom in Bali’s capital Denpasar.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Darcy Jenson told the court he received instructions from a “Mr X” but did not know about the alleged plot to scare Sanar Ghanim.\u00a0 (ABC News)<\/p>\n

Police allege Jenson organised the hit while 22-year-old Coskun and 27-year-old Tupou carried it out.<\/p>\n

But the two alleged gunmen argued the shooting death was not intentional.<\/p>\n

They told the Bali court Mr Radmanovic’s death was not planned, and they were instead sent to the villa to threaten Mr Ghanim into repaying a debt.<\/p>\n

If found guilty, it is possible the gunmen could face the death penalty.<\/p>\n

Ahead of their sentencing, Mr Radmanovic’s widow has called for the maximum penalty possible.<\/p>\n

Police allege shooters broke into villa with a sledgehammer<\/p>\n

In June, north of Bali’s famous Canggu Beach, Mr Radmanovic and Ms Gourdeas were holidaying in a luxury villa, accompanied by Ms Gourdeas’s sister Daniella Gourdeas, and her partner, Sanar Ghanim.<\/p>\n

They were there to celebrate Ms Gourdeas’s birthday.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The shooting occured at a tourist villa in Bali in June 2025. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

But just after midnight on June 14, police say Tupou and Coskun, dressed as ride-share drivers, broke into the villa with a sledgehammer.<\/p>\n

They were brandishing 9mm handguns.<\/p>\n

Ms Gourdeas told police she was woken by gunfire and her husband’s screams, so she hid under the bedcovers.<\/p>\n

She told police that Tupou, wearing a balaclava, fired at her husband.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Mevlut Coskun and Paea I Middlemore Tupou pictured during a police re-enactment of the alleged crime. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

A coroner’s examination later found Mr Radmanovic had three gunshot entry wounds, as well as blunt force trauma.<\/p>\n

Mr Ghanim, who was once in a relationship with the stepdaughter of deceased underworld figure Carl Williams, was also shot and beaten but survived the attack.<\/p>\n

His partner, Daniella Gourdeas, told police she ran from the villa toward the main road, screaming for help.<\/p>\n

Police allege Tupou and Coskun escaped on motorcycles, got into a car with Jenson, and drove out of Bali.<\/p>\n

They allegedly dumped the handguns in a small river.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

In the aftermath of the shooting, Tupou and Coskun were arrested overseas, while Jenson was arrested in Jakarta.<\/p>\n

Tupou and Coskun were charged with premeditated murder, while Jenson was charged with aiding premeditated murder.<\/p>\n

Shooters say they were hired by unnamed Australian, ‘Mr X’<\/p>\n

Interview statements from Jazmyn and Daniella Gourdeas, as well as Sanar Ghanim, were read out in court.<\/p>\n

All three refused to give in-person testimony, saying they feared for their safety.<\/p>\n

Jazmyn Gourdeas’s lawyer said that her home in Melbourne had been broken into after the trial began.<\/p>\n

It followed the reported firebombing of Daniella Gourdeas’s Melbourne beauty salon.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Zivan Radmanovic’s widow, Jazmyn Gourdeas (centre), was present for the start of the trial in October 2025. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

At trial, the alleged gunmen said they were offered money by an Australian man they refused to identify, to travel to Bali and frighten Sanar Ghanim into repaying a debt.<\/p>\n

Both Coskun and Tupou said they took the job because they needed money.<\/p>\n

The man the defendants say hired them was never named at court, sometimes only described as “Mr X”.<\/p>\n

The court heard much of the communication took place over several separate group chats on encrypted messaging app Threema, often used by Australia’s underworld.<\/p>\n

Coskun said he was promised a few days of relaxation in Bali, before being hired to confront Sanar Ghanim and threaten him.<\/p>\n

Jenson told the court he had been doing odd jobs for the unnamed Australian, when Mr X gave him another task.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

Jenson told the court the man asked him to rent a villa, organise motorbikes, buy a sledgehammer and bring Tupou and Coskun to Bali from East Java.<\/p>\n

He said he didn’t know about the plan to scare Mr Ghanim.<\/p>\n

Jenson also refused to name the Australian man behind the alleged plot.<\/p>\n

“I believe that if he can find someone in Bali and carry out this crime against them, then he’d be able to hurt me or my family in Australia,” he told the court.<\/p>\n

Coskun gave evidence that when he arrived in Indonesia, he was told to hand over his passport.<\/p>\n

He also told the court that after he and Tupou landed in Bali, they were getting tattoos when they received a message from the unnamed man to retrieve a bag with handguns inside.<\/p>\n

\"Indonesian<\/p>\n

Police escort one of the suspects ahead of a press conference in June 2025. (AP: Firdia Lisnawati)<\/p>\n

“I took the bag which I was instructed to do and go back to the villa,” Coskun told the court.<\/p>\n

“From that point on, what do I do?<\/p>\n

“I’m already in too deep, I can’t just say no, he has my passport.<\/p>\n

“If this guy can find an address in Bali, then he can find my address easily.”<\/p>\n

‘I didn’t mean to shoot him’: Confusion inside Bali villa<\/p>\n

Tupou and Coskun told the court that when they arrived at the villa, they entered the building and split up.<\/p>\n

Coskun said he found Mr Ghanim and threatened him.<\/p>\n

“He ran and reached under a cupboard and I freaked out \u2026 I shot, not at him \u2026 but I shot maybe two or three times,” he told the court.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Tupou gave evidence he entered a different room in the villa.<\/p>\n

“We were only told there would be one person there, not two people,” he told the court.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A police re-enactment of the shooting, during which it was alleged the two Australian men were dressed as ride-share drivers. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

Tupou said he saw a man entering the bathroom and grabbing something from his pocket.<\/p>\n

“I thought it was Sanar, I walked towards the bathroom,” he said.<\/p>\n

“He had something in his hands, he ran at me and my last option was to shoot him.<\/p>\n

“Everything happened so fast \u2026 I didn’t mean to shoot him.”<\/p>\n

He had shot and killed father of six, Zivan Radmanovic.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Zivan Radmanovic was killed at his villa in Bali just after midnight in June 2025. (Supplied: Facebook)<\/p>\n

Jenson told the court that he was instructed by Mr X to pick up the shooters from a pre-arranged meeting spot.<\/p>\n

He said when they got in the car, he tried to strike up a conversation.<\/p>\n

“When they originally hopped in, I asked them what’s going on, but neither replied,” Jenson told the court.<\/p>\n

“I already had music playing, I just turned it up and kept driving.”<\/p>\n

Jenson’s legal team argue that he had no idea about the plot to scare Mr Ghanim, evidenced by him making bookings and purchases with his passport and personal phone number.<\/p>\n

Families getting by ‘one day at a time’<\/p>\n

Throughout the trial, all three men apologised for their involvement in Mr Radmanovic’s death.<\/p>\n

During sentencing submissions, Tupou, who shot the Melbourne father, apologised for the “suffering I have caused and for the loss of your beloved Zivan”.<\/p>\n

“I understand no words I offer can ever lessen your grief or undo what has occurred, but I am truly and deeply sorry for the pain and the heartbreak your family has been forced to endure,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Paea I Middlemore Tupou (left) said he was “truly and deeply sorry” about the death of Zivan Radmanovic. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

Earlier in the trial, while members of Mr Radmanovic’s family were present, Jenson said he wanted to apologise for being an “accessory to the nightmare”.<\/p>\n

Although premeditated murder can carry the death penalty, Indonesian prosecutors have requested that Tupou and Coskun be sentenced to 18 years in prison.<\/p>\n

Prosectors have submitted that Jenson should be sentenced to 17 years in prison, something his lawyers have described as an “abuse of power”.<\/p>\n

In an interview with the ABC, Jazmyn Gourdeas said the impact on her family from her husband’s death had been “unimaginable”.<\/p>\n

“I don’t think there’s even words,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Not only for myself and my children, but for his parents, my siblings.<\/p>\n

“We go through one day at a time and we don’t think of tomorrow.”<\/p>\n

She is calling for the maximum penalty possible under the charges, which in the case of Tupou and Coskun, is the death penalty.<\/p>\n

The trial closed in late February, with a verdict and sentencing expected in early March.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was a violent raid and shooting that shocked the Island of the Gods. In the middle of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":511514,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[13146,256278,256279,43,4805,256280,44,41,39,42,40,256281],"class_list":["post-511513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-bali","tag-bali-murder-trial","tag-bali-shooting","tag-headlines","tag-indonesia","tag-melbourne-man","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-villa-shooting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=511513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511513\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/511514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}