David James Pye: Nick Martin killer’s 2018 Instagram post uncovers new link to accused bikie murder mastermind

The gun-for-hire who executed Rebels kingpin Nick Martin may have misled police and the court about the true extent of his relationship with the man he accuses of paying for the gangland hit. David James Pye is due to return to the Supreme Court on Wednesday accused of paying the sniper $150,000 to have Martin executed at the Perth Motorplex in December 2020 and allegedly offering more money for another two contract killings. In his evidence, he told the court he first started communicating with Pye through Instagram in late 2019 while volunteering in Iraq for charity Shadows of Hope, and initially wasn’t aware Pye was a member of the Comanchero bikie gang. A social media post obtained by The West Australian from the shooter’s Instagram account appears to show he was acquainted with Pye in November 2018. The shooter had posted a photo of himself holding a snake at Margaret River, to which an account linked to David Pye commented: “Coastal carpet python”. The account’s thumbnail is a photo of Pye and it’s followed by a number of high profile WA members of the Mongols, Lone Wolf and Coffin Cheaters bikie gangs. No evidence before the court during Pye’s trial has detailed any relationship between the pair prior to late 2019. The West asked the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions whether it was aware of the possible evidence relating to its star witness, and whether the court should have been made aware of its existence. A spokesperson said it couldn’t “substantively respond” to the questions as its role isn’t as an “investigative” agency. The shooter’s legal representatives were also contacted for comment. Pye’s defence have alleged a number of inconsistencies in the gunman’s testimony, which will come under further scrutiny on Wednesday when the case returns to court. Earlier in the trial, under questioning from Pye’s defence lawyer David Hallowes, the shooter admitted that he had lied to police, his friends, and his fiance about his involvement in the Motorplex assassination. He also wasn’t truthful in his early statements with investigators in which he claimed he had not killed anyone prior to shooting Martin. The shooter was played a number of recordings from a surveillance device installed in Pye’s home in early 2021 as part of the police investigation, in which he was heard appearing to boast about killing people in armed conflict overseas. Mr Hallowes had asked the shooter: “In terms of how many people you killed, you don’t know how many — is that consistent with your position?” “Yes,” the shooter responded. “You don’t always know if you kill them. You can be pretty sure, but you don’t always walk over (and check)?” The shooter replied: “Yes.” He was also questioned over his previous remarks in which he referred to “making book” on Nick Martin before killing him, a reference to conducting reconnaissance on targets, and admitted he had conducted target killings before. Mr Hallowes asked the shooter: “You’re talking about building a book, carrying out reconnaissance on the basis that this person is going to be killed in the future, correct?” “Correct” the shooter said, before going on to explain that he believed the planned executions were in “self-defence” because he thought the targets were a threat to other people. Prosecutor Justin Whalley has conceded the case against Pye lives and dies on the credibility of the shooter’s testimony. The prosecution alleges that Pye had offered the sniper more than $300,000 to kill a woman who had accused him of sexual assault, and when that was rejected, he paid for Martin’s execution. When that contract killing was successful, Pye is alleged to have offered the sniper more money to kill Comanchero Ray Cilli, who was hiding out from Australian authorities in Thailand. The court was played some six-and-a-half hours of covert recordings from a listening device in Pye’s home as part of the police investigation. In one of the conversations Pye could be heard talking with an associate about the woman that had laid charges against him and how she would be “dead in a couple of weeks” if she did not drop her complaint. “I will cut her head clean off like those ISIS c.... would do,” he said. “I’ll cut her head f...ing clean off and put it on a star picket. That’s how I feel about the c... — I actually want to murder her.” Those charges have since been discontinued by police. The prosecution tendered a number of photos of cash which had been dug-up and recovered by police from Lake Cooloongup which the shooter claims he received from Pye for the contract killings. Pye has opted for a judge alone trial, with Justice Joseph McGrath deciding the case. Closing submissions from the both the defence and prosecution are expected to take some hours on Wednesday before Justice McGrath retires to consider his verdict.