Daniel Stevens, Gerard Andrews appear in court accused of murdering Sydney grandfather
Updated ,first published
Two men accused of kidnapping and murdering an 85-year-old widower allegedly tried to cover their tracks by speaking Pig Latin while negotiating a $30,000 payment with their criminal superiors and were caught after leaving a cigarette butt inside a burned-out car.
New details of alleged kidnapping plot only available Herald – Including Chris Baghsarian being held at gunpoint and killed by thugs trying to get phone numbers of known criminals.
Baghsarian, a kindly man who lived alone in North Ryde, was asleep at his home on Northcott Street when three men broke his front window and kidnapped him.
Sources close to the investigation say Gerard Andrews, 29, texted Daniel Stevens, 29, two days before the kidnapping, saying they “had to go to K-Mart today.”
The pair allegedly bought three black hoodies and other clothing at Stanhope Gardens on February 11 before heading to St Mary’s North, which police allege was a staging point for a “joint criminal organisation” to kidnap the father of Dimitri and Dominic Stepanyan.
Both Stepanyan brothers, who are not accused of any crime in Baghsarian’s kidnapping, have criminal records. Police claim that while Stevens and Andrews allegedly kidnapped Baghsarian, they also believe they kidnapped Karo Stepanyan.
The alleged kidnapper of a third person remains at large.
But CCTV allegedly caught the trio getting into a Prado on Dobson Crescent in Dundas and heading towards the North Ryde address where Baghsarian lived. Sources said a neighbor heard glass breaking and called police.
The trio are alleged to have taken Baghsarian to an abandoned house on Wildthorn Avenue in Dural, where he was detained and “subjected to prolonged periods of extreme violence”.
Police said the torture sessions were photographed and filmed in an attempt to extort $50 million from the Stepanyans.
In one of the videos, a man holds a flower curtain over Baghsarian’s face and bluntly tells her to speak up. “What are Dimmy and Dom’s numbers?”
Another video shows a hand pointing a gun at Baghsarian.
According to the police, extreme violence, the details of which will not be published in this article, caused Baghsarian’s death the next day at his home in Dural.
His body, along with carpet from his home, was loaded into another vehicle and later dumped near a golf club in the northwestern Sydney suburb of Pitt Town.
Police allege Andrews and Stevens tried to burn the car used to transport the evidence but were unsuccessful.
Inside, police allegedly found a blood-stained carpet belonging to the Dural address and a cigarette butt containing DNA said to match Andrews.
Sources said the internet began shutting down and police became aware of phone calls regarding Andrews on Feb. 19.
Andrews allegedly told a co-worker that he was expecting payment. Allegedly, Andrews told his interlocutor that the amount had been negotiated but was just over $30,000.
“The situation has changed,” Andrews allegedly said, referring to the botched kidnapping of an innocent man.
In the days that followed, as police searched for Baghsarian and footage of his torture circulated online, Andrews and Stevens allegedly spoke Pork Latin to disguise their conversations on the encrypted app Signal.
“I’ll talk to you at Ignalsay,” said one.
In another conversation, someone allegedly said, “C— f—ed, bro.”
Baghsarian’s body was found on February 24.
Andrews allegedly threw a bleach-soaked Woolworths shopping bag full of black clothing and trainers from his home while police watched.
Detectives are still investigating other kidnappers and possible overseas involvement, including a third man caught on CCTV during Baghsarian’s alleged abduction.
Andrews and Stevens were arrested by heavily armed police at their parents’ homes in Kenthurst and Castle Hill on Wednesday morning and charged with the alleged kidnapping of Baghsarian (joint capture or detention for ransom, infliction of actual bodily harm) and murder.
Andrews’ lawyer, Paul McGirr, told reporters his client was not the ringleader.
“Of course, it is my understanding that my client was not an adept person in his involvement in this particular matter,” McGirr said.
“The sensitive nature of this particular matter for the victim’s family is not lost on me, but I have a job to do and it is very difficult for me to do that job after reading the fact sheet.”
Andrews and then Stevens appeared before Blacktown Local Court on Thursday morning. None of the defendants requested bail.
Stevens had initially asked his lawyer Javid Faiz for release, but backed out after considering the “seriousness of the charges”.
“This is a tragic incident; there is no doubt this will have an impact on the community,” Faiz told reporters outside the courthouse on Thursday.
“He understands the seriousness of the incident, he understands the nature and seriousness of the allegations.”
His client had made only a brief speech in court via video link from a police cell, where he requested generic antiviral medication for a case of shingles.
A memorial of flowers was growing on Baghsarian’s front door Thursday, left by locals grieving his death.
“Dear Chris, what a cruel world we live in, I am lost for words,” one wrote.
“You remind me of my father… [I] Pray for justice to be served, these cowards deserve life.
“I’m sorry we disappointed you. I hope to meet you in heaven one day.”
A grandfather and widower, he was born in Jerusalem, lived alone, and police have repeatedly said he and his family had no links to organized crime.
The defendant will appear in court on April 17.
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Amber Schultz is a crime and justice reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect with: X or email.
