A man tipped off to carry out a robbery following a Tinder date allegedly complained about the size and build of the victim after the crime turned deadly.
Joseph Nehme has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and assault with intent to rob over his role in a 2019 home invasion in western Sydney that left 29-year-old Luke Lembryk with fatal stab wounds.
Lembryk was stabbed multiple times inside his Condell Park home and left to die in the arms of his mother, who was also in the house and was assaulted during the robbery.
Lisa Price, who had gone on a Tinder date with Lembryk several months earlier, allegedly told Nehme about stacks of cash worth between $10,000 and $20,000 the 29-year-old had in his possession.
Nehme pleaded guilty to breaking and entering Lembryk’s home, despite initially denying the allegation when speaking to police, a NSW Supreme Court jury was told on Monday.
Intercepted phone calls between Nehme and Price recorded the moment he broke the news to her that they had got “nothing” from the break-in.
“Wasn’t as straightforward as you said, huh,” Nehme told Price, according to prosecutors.
“Bro the guy’s a f—ing full footy-player c—.
“Big Aussie bloke. He was strapped as well.”
The home invasion allegedly involved Nehme and two other men, Viliami Taufahema and Bilal Rahim, the latter of whom allegedly waited outside the home.
Nehme was recorded telling another unknown person they would make an “easy” $10,000 if they could borrow a car to help him.
“This is a job, very easy. Very f—ing easy,” Nehme said in the phone call.
Prosecutors allege Nehme recruited Taufahema to take part in the robbery to help deal with any resistance they encountered.
“My mate, he’s a machine,” Nehme said to Rahim in the lead-up to the robbery.
“You don’t f— with him.”
Prosecutor Katrina Ratcliffe noted the Crown did not claim the men went to the home with the intention of killing Lembryk and they only did so when he refused to hand over the money.
“The Crown can not definitively prove which person inflicted the fatal wound,” she said.
But Ratcliffe added that to prove the murder charge prosecutors would rely on the agreement between the men to carry out the robbery, which would hold all of those involved criminally responsible for the death.
“All of the participants are equally guilty of carrying out the crime, regardless of the part they play in its commission,” she said.
