NSW: Killer may have been after drug-case witness

AAP General News (Australia)
02-02-2004
NSW: Killer may have been after drug-case witness

SYDNEY, Feb 2 AAP - A 20-year-old man shot dead may have been mistaken for a friend
- a key NSW police witness in a drug-trafficking case.

Mark Nicholls, 20, was helping out his friend at the man's smash repair workshop in
south-west suburban Condell Park when he was shot five times with a semi-automatic weapon
about 6.30pm (AEDT) yesterday, police said today.

His friend, a protected police witness in a current court case, was in the back of
the workshop when the shots were fired.

The witness to the shooting - who cannot be identified because he is under police protection
- was well known to Task Force Gain, which is investigating a spree of violent gang shootings
in the area.

He is also a key witness in court proceedings involving five men charged with drug-related
offences, kidnapping and armed robbery.

Gain head, Detective Chief Superintendent Bob Inkster, said the witness to Mr Nicholls'
shooting was under police protection, but had declined full police protection prior to
last night's incident.

This was now under review following the fatal shooting, Supt Inkster said.

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KEYWORD: SHOT WITNESS

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