Australasian Biker News
Gypsy Jokers quizzed over shooting of man up to 15 times
Article from: The Advertiser
COLIN JAMES, POLICE REPORTER
February 12, 2008 03:15pm
POLICE investigating the shooting of a Yorke Peninsula man at Paskeville
have quizzed members of the Gypsy Jokers motorcycle gang.
Jesse Ray Penhall, 30, remains in a critical condition after he was shot
up to 15 times during an ambush on Monday.
The shooting was today declared a major crime, with detectives
confirming they were investigating whether it was related to the murder
of a Gypsy Joker bikie at Wallaroo three years ago.
Major Crime Investigation Branch Detective Inspector Doug Barr said it
would be "naive" to discount the possibility that the incident was not a
retaliatory attack against Mr Penhall, who was found not guilty of
shooting Steven "Fly" Hydon, 31, outside the Weerona Hotel.
Det Insp Barr said the "callous" attack on Mr Penhall, who returned to
Moonta following his acquittal in September, 2006, was not random and
appeared to have been carefully planned.
This included his attackers leaving a vehicle at Auburn, in the Clare
Valley, which they used to escape after using a plastic jerry can of
petrol to set fire to a green 1986 VK Commodore involved in ambushing Mr
Penhall at Paskeville.
Residents told The Advertiser they saw the Commodore and several male
occupants driving through the small town last Wednesday.
It also was seen on dirt roads to the north of Paskeville, which can
lead to the Clare Valley.
Det Insp Barr today appealed for anyone who saw the Commodore in the
Paskeville or Auburn area either last week or on Monday to contact
police.
"The green VK Commodore is a major line of our inquiry and we are
concentrating on this car," he said.
Det Insp Barr would not comment on whether the Commodore had been
stolen. And he would not release details of the second vehicle used the
men who shot Mr Penhall.
Asked whether police knew what the gunmen looked like, he said witnesses
had given "varying" descriptions to detectives investigating the
shooting.
Major Crime detectives had spoken to Penhall at the Royal Adelaide
Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery on Monday for gunshot
wounds to his neck, shoulder, hands and stomach.
They also had met with one of his friends, Erin Woodward, who also was
charged with Hydon's murder to determine his whereabouts and check on
his welfare.
Det Insp Barr said the Gypsy Jokers were among those who had been
interviewed by detectives as their involvement in the shooting could not
be discounted.
"It would be naive to excluse that prominent feature (the shooting of
Hydon and a possible payback) from our inquiries," he said.
"The Gypsy Jokers are one line of inquiry that we will be following but
we will be keeping an open mind. We don't want to look into just one
theory."
Asked if he was surprised Penhall had survived the shooting, Det Insp
Barr said it would "be mad not to think he was very fortunate",
especially when he had been shot multiple times at such a close
distance.
"This wasn't a random shooting but targeted," he said.
"We are treating it as an attempted murder with the intent to kill Mr
Penall. Whoever is behind it has a callous disregard to the law."
Det Insp Barr said anyone who knew anything the VK Commodore, which had
shiny mag wheels and orange stripes along its sides, or about the
shooting to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.