Australia Australia - Raphael Joseph, 37, Sydney, NSW, 20 March 2014

[Taco]

A SYDNEY man last seen jumping into a car with at least two men in the city's western suburbs is believed to have been kidnapped.

http://www.news.com.au/national/bre...an-was-kidnapped/story-e6frfku9-1226873184244

 

[Taco]

Missing man Raphael Joseph suspected of involvement in a 2002 strip club shooting

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...ip-club-shooting/story-fni0cx12-1226873162696

HOMICIDE detectives are investigating the disappearance of a man suspected of involvement in a shooting at a western Sydney strip club more than 10 years ago.

 

[TravelingBug]

This seems like a made for tv movie in the making...

Believed victim now originally suspect in a murder, flees to the US, gets caught and sent back, now believed to have been kidnapped and likely murdered or being held for ransom now himself? Seriously?

And yet they also think he got in the car willingly?

Police said Mr Joseph was a man of some means and believe he may have been kidnapped for financial gain.
<snip>

&#8220;Extortion is one possibility for his kidnapp,&#8221; said Detective Willing today who said there had been no demands made of his family but may have been of his associates.

But he added Mr Joseph was well known to police and there could be other motives for his kidnap and probable murder.

Working on the likelihood of murder the police have been searching bushland at Flemington.

Members of his family withdrew from a planned press conference today because they were frightened.

Curious why they think there could be other reasons he'd possibly have been kidnapped and murdered for on top of the original...

 

[Taco]

Original article says originally known as 'Rafi Tooma'.

MSM reports the original 2002 shooting 'led to a gang war involving several other killings, kidnappings and drive-by shootings...'

Subject of manhunt is held without bail
December 19, 2006
http://ww.uniontrib.com/uniontrib/20061219/news_1m19joseph.html

 

[Taco]

When I Googled the name of the person shot in 2002, this link came up:

Dlasthr - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dlasthr (The Last Hour) is an Assyrian criminal gang active in the south western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. Members wear a distinctive clenched fist tattoo across their backs together with the letters AK (standing for Assyrian Kings)

 

[Taco]

Aussie fugitive pleads to remain in US

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world.../2008/01/05/1198950116450.html?s_cid=rss_news
January 5, 2008

He has claimed that an Australian crime family has placed a $A100,000 bounty on his head "payable to anyone who kills him...

 

[PrimeSuspect]

Family's appeal for lost Sydney man as Missing Persons Week highlights 35,000 missing


The heartache of not knowing is a pain the Joseph family shares with 1600 Australian families.

Their loved one, Raphael Joseph, has been missing since March, and police fear an extortion attempt was behind his disappearance.



In 2013, 11,803 people were reported missing in NSW and 36 people remain missing:

– An average of 227 missing person reports are made each week

– An average of 32 missing person reports are made each day

– 60 per cent are under 18

– 10 per cent are over 60




http://www.9news.com.au/national/2014/08/03/14/57/missing-person-week#XpJ6Xl8hpyPboy1M.99

 

[DRT]

$1million reward announced for information over suspected murder of Raphael Joseph - NSW Police Public Site

New reward one of four one million dollar rewards issued in N.S.W.

“We know Mr Joseph left his Chiswick apartment in the early evening and dropped-in at the home of an associate at Pyrmont, before having dinner with friends at a restaurant in the casino.

“During dinner, he received a message on his encrypted Blackberry and shortly after, left the casino to head to a meeting with known associates.

“Mr Joseph, who was being driven by a friend in his Mercedes Benz, stopped briefly at home before making his way to Dartbrook Road, Auburn, where he entered the back seat of the Commodore.

“We now know Mr Joseph was taken to a nearby home, where he was murdered. His body was then placed into a 44-gallon drum and placed into a white Toyota Hiace van and taken away for disposal.”

Earlier this year, strike force detectives located and seized three vehicles – a silver Holden Commodore and two Toyota Hiace vans – they believe were used by those responsible for Mr Joseph’s disappearance.

During examinations of the vehicles, investigators located various hidden compartments, which were also forensically examined, and linked to the supply of illicit drugs.

Further inquiries led Strike Force Halfbeak investigators to search a rural property at Blaxlands Ridge, where they seized a number of items, which have also been subjected to forensic examination.

Investigators also identified the home in which they believe Mr Joseph was murdered, which has undergone extensive forensic and scientific analysis.