Bonnie Ellis: Bunbury woman denied bail over alleged extortion plot against wheelchair user, fiancé in custody

A man in a wheelchair has fled the State fearing for his safety after finding himself at the centre of an alleged terrifying extortion plot by a Bunbury couple thought to be linked to a violent gang. Police say Bonnie Marie Ellis and her fiance Cory-Lee Carmello Triscari accused the victim of sexual assault as they tried to get $5000 from him, while another man threatened to attack him. Ms Ellis, 35, Mr Triscari, 30, and Matthew Douglas Cook, 30, appeared in Bunbury Magistrates Court on Friday charged over the alleged extortion plot. The court was told Ms Ellis contacted the man at 9pm on February 22, inviting him over for a few drinks. When he arrived at the Bunbury property he was allegedly carried in by two men, believed to be associates of Ms Ellis and Mr Triscari, who was wearing a Mongrel Mob vest. The Mongrel Mob is a notoriously violent gang which originated in New Zealand in the 1960s and is the nation’s biggest gang. It’s claimed the alleged victim was then confronted by Ms Ellis and Mr Triscari, who accused him of sexually assaulting her on a previous occasion. Mr Triscari then allegedly pulled out a knife and threatened the man, who immediately feared for his safety. Their alleged accomplice, Mr Cook, then made a threat to sexually assault the man, police say. Mr Triscari and Ms Ellis allegedly gave the man a week to pay them $5000 before allowing him to leave. Two days later, the alleged victim made a complaint to police before fleeing WA. Police say the man told them he received threatening text messages from Mr Triscari, demanding he pay up or “suffer the consequences” and that they would be able to track him down. After he identified both Mr Triscari and Ms Ellis from photos shown to him by police, gang crime squad officers executed a search warrant at the couple’s home. Police seized mobile phones, the Mongrel Mob vest and several guns and other weapons, including the knife Mr Triscari allegedly used to threat. During a bail application for Ms Ellis, the court was told she admitted to contacting the man, being present during the incident and asking for the money, but denied that Mr Triscari used a knife to threaten him. When police questioned the wheelchair user over the sexual assault claims made by Ms Ellis and Mr Triscari, he admitted touching Ms Ellis’s leg during a conversation on a previous occasion. Magistrate Joanne Andretich refused to grant Ms Ellis bail out of concern she could further offend and potentially interfere with any witnesses. Neither Mr Triscari nor Mr Cook applied for bail. The trio were remanded in custody. According to Mr Triscari’s social media profile, he moved to Bunbury in 2020 and is understood to work at a concrete manufacturing firm in Australind. He got engaged to Ms Ellis in 2021. The Mongrel Mob is active in WA with police cracking down on them in the Goldfields earlier this year and three members being at the centre of a violent pub brawl with a dozen Mongols bikies in Secret Harbour in September.