In the latest twist in a five-year saga which has involved the deaths of a number of the region’s underworld figures, homicide detectives have dismissed the idea that a subsequent murder was payback for Saso Ristevski’s death.
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The 37-year-old’s murder had been linked with the October 2011 disappearance of Goran Nikolovski, who police believe was murdered.
Strike Force Calligan involving NSW Homicide Squad detectives and Illawarra police was set up to investigate three deaths, including that of Berkeley man Darko Janceski in April 2012.
Speaking at a media conference after a series of police raids at houses in the Illawarra’s southern suburbs, Homicide Squad boss, Detective Chief Inspector David Laidlaw, said investigators were now confident Nikolovski had no connection to Ristevski’s murder.
“We’re confident [the later killings] were not as a result of a payback, yet that might have been the perception out there between the other organised crime figures involved in the murder, we say, of Nikolovski,” Det Insp Laidlaw.
He said police refuted any involvement of Nikolovski with Ristevski’s murder and were continuing to investigate Nikolovski’s disappearance and suspected death.
“As a result of certain actions of certain people, Nikolovski went missing, and we can state to the Coroner that we believe he is now deceased and inquiries are continuing in that matter,” Det Insp Laidlaw said.
Nikolovski’s silver Honda Accord was found burnt out at Macquarie Pass on November 1, 2011.
He has not been seen nor accessed his bank accounts since his disappearance.
Detectives believe he has been murdered but his body has never been found, despite numerous searches.