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The two-man hit team that murdered underworld enforcer Gavin Preston have been sentenced to 34 years in prison over the gangland execution and attempted murder of his associate.
But Jaeden Tito, 25, and Rabii Zahabe, 26, received a reprieve from life behind bars due to their young age, despite what the judge called a “meticulously planned” contract killing that flouted “society’s most basic human values”.
Supreme Court Justice Michael O’Connell handed down the sentence nearly three years to the day of Preston’s very public murder in one of the most brazen underworld hits seen in decades.
Zahabe will be eligible for parole in 27 years and Tito in 26 years.
Preston, who had been on a violent crime spree in the winter of 2023 after being released from prison, was gunned down on September 9 of that year while sitting down at his favourite Keilor cafe.
Nicknamed “Capable” – because he was capable of anything – Preston had only recently finished an 11-year jail stint for two underworld shootings, one fatal.
The hit team, in a stolen car, leapt out in front of the Sweet Lulu’s cafe and opened fire at Preston, hitting him seven times. Associate Abbas ‘AJ’ Maghnie, son of slain gangland figure Nabil Maghnie, was shot in the stomach but survived.
“The gravity of this offending, the elaborate premeditation, the financial motive, and your very high moral culpability require the imposition of a sentence more severe than the standard sentence,” O’Connell said.
“An execution in a public setting for profit is an act which must be unequivocally condemned. Although Gavin Preston had significant criminal convictions and might well be said to have lived his life outside of the law, it must be made clear that his life deserves the protection and vindication provided by the law, just as anyone else in our community.”
The 50-year-old had become complacent about guarding his movements despite creating masses of ill will in the underworld following a series of extortions, assaults and robberies as he sought to make a quick dollar and take revenge on long-standing enemies.
Preston and Maghnie had broken their own safety precautions that day, taking a seat at an outside table rather than their regular inside one at the back of the cafe, facing the front door.
It was a fatal mistake, one that allowed Tito and Zahabe to get the green light for a murder plan that had been set up days, if not weeks, before, with the duo being brought down from Sydney to be the trigger men.
“The degree of planning and sophistication associated with this offending was of a high order,” O’Connell said on Tuesday.
“According to the verdict of the jury, you executed Gavin Preston and attempted to execute Abbas Maghnie by shooting them dead in front of innocent bystanders at a busy suburban cafe on a Saturday morning.
“The only reasonable inference open is that each of you carried out this killing for profit. That this was a contract killing.”
At the time of his death, Preston had been feuding with underworld figures like gangland boss George Marrogi, Waleed “Wally” Haddara, Sam “The Punisher” Abdulrahim and Preston’s former bikie club, the Comanchero, the court heard.
However, the reason Tito and Zahabe were hired, and who hired them, remain unanswered questions.
Underworld and police sources say that the hit was likely ordered by a Sydney-based crime figure who was ripped off by Preston just months before the hit.
The case against Tito and Zahabe was built on a wealth of DNA evidence left behind by the two as they made their escape across Melbourne’s northern and western suburbs using a series of pre-positioned stolen getaway cars.
However, two of the cars failed to catch alight after being set on fire, preserving evidence at both scenes.
An unknown associate also failed to destroy the third car despite arriving at the drop scene and collecting something from inside the vehicle, believed to be the firearms used in the murder.
Tito and Zahabe also made the bizarre decision to make their final getaway using a pre-ordered car service that drove them to Sydney.
Once there, they left a trail of digital evidence including internet searches for “no extradition countries” and methods for seeking forgiveness in Islam, as well as a number of bills for jewellery and hotels.
O’Connell said that at the time of his death, Preston had been engaged to be married and his death “will have had a significant impact on his fiancée, his family, and friends”.
The court heard that Tito and Zahabe had no previous convictions for violence before the murder and they were both only 22 years old at the time of the killings.
“According to investigators, there was no known connection between Preston and either of you,” O’Connell said.
“The investigations into who organised this killing remain ongoing.”
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