A man has expressed his gratitude to God after a jury found him not guilty of involvement in the murder of Yusuf Nazlioglu, who was fatally shot multiple times in an underground car park in Rhodes, Sydney, on June 27, 2022. This verdict came shortly after one of his co-defendants, Mohammed Khaled, was convicted.
Yusuf Nazlioglu, aged 40, was reportedly shot at least eight times by a gunman while exiting his vehicle. Following the incident, Mohammed Baltagi, 26, Khaled, and Abdulrahman Atteya, 31, were charged with conspiring to kill Nazlioglu. Prosecutors claimed that Baltagi and Khaled were key in planning the murder.
The trial, held in the New South Wales Supreme Court, lasted weeks, with all three defendants pleading not guilty to the charges. While Khaled was convicted after a week of jury deliberation, Baltagi was acquitted of murder on Thursday, prompting him to express thanks in Arabic as jurors exited.
Prosecutors suggested that either Atteya or another individual, Rabieh Baltagi, who evaded authorities in July 2022, executed the shooting. The case also featured personal testimony from Nazlioglu’s widow, Jade Jeske, who recounted witnessing her husband’s murder. She described a terrifying scene where she saw an assailant approach her husband brandishing a pistol before seeking shelter in their car as a barrage of gunfire erupted.
Jade captured footage of the chaotic event on her phone after the shooter fled the scene in a Volkswagen Golf. The prosecution noted that the motive for the homicide might have been linked to the theft of two luxury rental vehicles from a Sydney business, with connections drawn between the accused and the rental company.
This alarming case highlights the severe implications of gang-related violence and the complexities involved in legal proceedings surrounding such crimes.