Inquest into the death of Amar Dk Kattola

CORONERS COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES Inquest: Inquest into the death of Amar Dk Kattola Hearing dates: 5 November 2025 Date of findings: 5 November 2025 Place of findings: Coroners Court of New South Wales, Lidcombe Findings of: Magistrate Kasey Pearce, Deputy State Coroner Catchwords: CORONIAL LAW – cause and manner of death – unsolved homicide File number: 2021/00007912 Representation: Mr T O’Donnell, Coronial Advocate Assisting the Coroner Mr A Taleb for the Kettule family Non publication orders: A non-publication order has been made pursuant to section 74(1)(b) of the Coroners Act 2009 (NSW) in relation to selected parts of the coronial brief of evidence. A copy of this order is on the Registry file Findings Amar Dk Kattola died on 10 January 2021 in Fairfield NSW. The cause of Amar’s death was multiple gunshot wounds. These gunshot wounds were inflicted when Amar was shot by unknown persons. The manner of Amar’s death is therefore homicide.

Recommendation: I recommend that the death of Amar Dk Kattola be referred to the Unsolved Homicide Unit of the NSW Police Homicide Squad for further investigation in accordance with the protocols and procedures of that Unit.

Table of Contents

1 Introduction 1.1 Amar died early in the morning of 10 January 2021 in the garage area of the unit block in which he lived. He was seated in the driver’s seat of his car, when he was shot by two persons who fled the scene. He was 34 years old at the time of his death.

1.2 Despite an extensive police investigation conducted over several years, no persons involved in the incident have been identified, and no criminal proceedings have been commenced in relation to Amar’s death.

1.3 In making these findings, I acknowledge the profound impact that Amar’s death has had, and will continue to have, on both his immediate and extended family, who also lost Amar’s younger brother, Dyllan, in similar circumstances in 2014.

2 Why was an inquest held?

2.1 Under the Coroners Act 2009 (the Act) a coroner is responsible for investigating all ‘reportable deaths.’ This investigation is conducted primarily so that a coroner can answer questions that are required to be answered pursuant to section 81 of the Act, namely, the identity of the person who died, when and where they died, and the cause and the manner of that person’s death. A secondary function of a coroner is to make recommendations, arising from the evidence, in relation to any matter connected with the death.

2.2 A reportable death is defined to include one which occurs in circumstances where a person died a violent or unnatural death. The combined effect of sections 22 and 27(1)(a) of the Act is that it is mandatory for a senior coroner, that is, the State Coroner, or a Deputy State Coroner, to hold an inquest in circumstances where, as in Amar’s case, a person has died as a result of a homicide.

3 Amar’s life 3.1 While any inquest inevitably focuses on the circumstances of the death of a person, it is important to recognise and acknowledge the life of the person the subject of the inquest in order to appreciate what their life, and their loss, meant to those who knew and loved them.

3.2 Amar was born on 8 December 1986 to his mother, Nejeeba Kettule, and father, Najah Kettule. He was one of eight children. The family fled Iraq in 1991 via Syria, Turkey and New

Zealand, before eventually immigrating to Australia in 2000, where they settled in Fairfield,

NSW.

3.3 In 2002 or 2003, when Amar was 18 or 19 years old, he began working in real estate for Century 21. It was around this time that it is thought that Amar began associating with people believed to be involved in organised crime.

3.4 The connections Amar had with organised crime, resulted in him being the target of several incidents of violence. In January 2005 Amar was stabbed by an unknown person and taken to hospital. Around 2008, the Kettule family home was the target of several drive-by shootings.

3.5 In February 2008, Amar was charged with aggravated break and enter offences and was ultimately sentenced to two years and nine months imprisonment. He was released from gaol in November 2012.

3.6 Unfortunately, in 2013 another drive-by shooting occurred at the Kettule family home. In May the same year, Amar was occupying the passenger seat of a motor vehicle travelling along Boomerang Rd, in Edensor Park, when a silver vehicle drove up alongside him and an unknown person discharged a firearm into Amar’s vehicle. Amar received a gunshot wound to his right forearm and was treated at Liverpool Hospital.

3.7 It is believed that Amar was targeted by DLASTHR, an organised crime group.

3.8 On 26 January 2014, Amar’s brother Dyllan Kettule was shot and killed after leaving his girlfriend’s unit in Canley Vale. This resulted in a lengthy police investigation. It is suspected by police that Dyllan’s death was likely motivated by the same conflict between Amar and DLASTHR, however no suspects have been charged in relation to Dyllan’s death, and his death remains an unsolved homicide.

3.9 On 19 March 2020 Amar legally changed his name from Amar Kettule to Amar Dk Kattola.

3.10 At the end of the inquest a family friend of the Kettule family shared some thoughts on behalf of Amar’s family. Amar was described as the ‘heartbeat’ of his family, as someone who was gentle, funny, kind and caring. It was clear that Amar was greatly loved and is deeply missed by all who knew him. It is terrible for any family to lose a loved one in such violent circumstances. The grief associated with losing two beloved family members in such a way is incomprehensible.

4 Events leading up to Amar’s death 4.1 Amar had been in a relationship with Tara Khazaal for about three years prior to his death.

They would spend most days together.

4.2 On 9 January 2021, the day before his death, Amar met Ms Khazaal in the morning, and they had lunch at her house in Harrington Park. They attended Amar’s family home in the afternoon before Amar dropped Ms Khazaal back at her home at around 7:00 pm.

4.3 Amar briefly attended the home of Harry Karadjian in Bossley Park and then returned to his own unit on Ware Street, Fairfield at about 8:30 pm. At 9:50 pm, he left again and attended the Vivid Lounge in Wetherill Park. CCTV shows him arriving at approximately 10:19 pm and leaving around 12:32 am on the morning of 10 January.

4.4 Information provided to police suggested that Amar attended Club Marconi at some point this night with an associate and may have become involved in a hostile argument. However, no information corroborating his attendance at Club Marconi was discovered, and his phone records are not consistent with his attendance there that night.

4.5 It appears that Amar left the Vivid Lounge and went to Ms Khazaal’s house at about 12:40 am. Shortly after 1:30 am, Amar left Ms Khazaal’s house, stating he was going to ‘play the pokies.’ He drove to The Crescent Hotel in Fairfield, parking at about 1:49 am and entering the hotel at 1:50 am. While at the Crescent Hotel nothing suspicious was observed and Amar was reportedly friendly with staff and other patrons. He left the hotel at about 2:25 am and drove back to his unit.

4.6 From the time he left Ms Khazaal’s house shortly after 1:30 am Amar maintained an open phone line with her. She was able to hear background noise, although she and Amar didn’t talk much.

4.7 At 2:27 am Amar parked at the entrance to the garage for his unit complex and waited for the garage door to open. Two males who had been waiting behind a green electrical box approached the driver’s side of Amar’s vehicle. Both males were armed with pistols, and each discharged several rounds towards Amar. This was captured on CCTV footage, which then shows the two men fleeing on foot back through the Downey Lane car park towards Kenyon Street, Fairfield. The two males then entered a black Jeep that then sped off along Kenyon Street in the direction of Fairfield Heights.

4.8 Ms Khazaal was still on the phone with Amar at the time he was shot. She could not get an answer from Amar on the phone, so she left her house and drove to Amar’s unit in Fairfield.

She found the vehicle he was driving in the apartment building carpark and ran to the passenger side door. She noticed that Amar was not moving and immediately called for an ambulance to attend. Under the instruction of the triple zero operator, Ms Khazaal began performing cardio-pulmonary resuscitation on Amar until police and paramedics attended.

4.9 On arrival paramedics continued resuscitative efforts, however it was confirmed soon after that Amar had died.

5 The cause and manner of Amar’s death 5.1 Amar was taken to the Department of Forensic Medicine where an autopsy was performed on 11 and 12 January 2021 by forensic pathologist, Dr Sairita Maistry.

5.2 In her autopsy report dated 22 March 2022, Dr Maistry identified that Amar had suffered multiple gunshot wounds, which had resulted in catastrophic injuries. In Dr Maistry’s opinion, the cause of Amar’s death was multiple gunshot wounds.

5.3 Having regard to the events of 10 January 2021 it is clear that Amar died as a result of planned actions undertaken by several persons. Amar’s death can therefore properly be considered a homicide.

6 Investigations following Amar’s death 6.1 A crime scene was established by police at the scene where Amar was shot, and investigating police began canvassing for CCTV footage. CCTV footage obtained revealed that at 12:37am, a male wearing a black Lacoste branded jumper, blue shorts and slide style thongs (the Lacoste male), walked from the vicinity of the railway underpass which runs between Fairlight Avenue through to The Crescent. The male was captured holding a mobile phone to his ear. He was shown walking past the garage entry to Amar’s building, before walking out of view of the cameras. About three minutes later, he returned and walked past Amar’s garage again while using his mobile phone. He returned to the vicinity of the railway underpass at 12:47am. Police have been unable to establish the identity of this person.

6.2 At the same time the Lacoste male was walking towards Amar’s unit complex, a black Jeep with registration CRE30J began travelling towards the Fairfield CBD from Fairfield Heights.

The Jeep was further tracked by CCTV travelling into the Fairfield CBD in the vicinity of Downey Lane. At 12:47am, the Jeep dropped off two males wearing black clothing and gloves in the Downey Lane Council Carpark. It then travelled to nearby Kenyon Street and parked. After the shooting, the two male offenders are captured on CCTV running back through the Downey Lane Council Carpark towards Kenyon Street. The Jeep is then seen to speed off in the direction of Fairfield Heights.

6.3 On 10 January, police were alerted to a fire occurring in Smithfield. Police attended Reserve Street, Smithfield and located a black Jeep Cherokee that had been extinguished by the NSW Fire Brigade. A crime scene examination was conducted, and the Jeep was confirmed as being vehicle registration CRE30J, which had been stolen from premises in Guildford West on 15 December 2020.

6.4 Strikeforce Fitzhill was established to investigate the circumstances of Amar’s death. Since its inception, Strikeforce Fitzhill has created over 2300 individual documents which range in volume from a single page through to hundreds of pages each, obtained thousands of hours of recordings, identified well over 100 individual CCTV locations and reviewed footage comprising several thousand hours, and reviewed hundreds of Offender Telephone System (gaol) phone calls. The investigation has spoken to a significant number of people relevant both to Amar and to those suspected of having knowledge or involvement in his murder. The investigation has been lengthy as well as extremely complex.

6.5 The brief of evidence tendered in the coronial proceedings contains a large number of witness statements, forensic reports and other documentary and electronic material gathered over the course of the investigation.

6.6 Although a number of lines of inquiry, persons of interest, and suspects were identified and investigated during the course of Strikeforce Fitzhill, no persons have been charged in relation to Amar’s death. At this time, the identities of the two male offenders who shot Amar are unknown.

7 Recommendations pursuant to section 82 of the Coroner’s Act 2009 7.1 Section 82 of the Act allows a coroner to make recommendations in relation to any matter connected with a person’s death if a coroner considers recommendations to be necessary or desirable.

7.2 The discharging of a firearm multiple times in a public location resulting in the death of a person is unquestionably a matter of utmost seriousness which impacts upon the safety of members of the community. There is obviously considerable public interest in having the person, or persons, responsible for such a criminal act brought to justice. Accordingly, the following recommendation is both necessary and desirable: I recommend that the death of Amar Dk Kattola be referred to the Unsolved Homicide Unit of the NSW Police Homicide Squad for further investigation in accordance with the protocols and procedures of that Unit.

8 Findings 8.1 The findings I make under section 81(1) of the Act are: Identity The person who died was Amar Dk Kattola Date of death Amar died on 10 January 2021 Place of death Amar died at Fairfield NSW Cause of death The cause of Amar’s death was multiple gunshot wounds Manner of death The gunshot wounds were inflicted when Amar was shot by unknown persons. The manner of Amar’s death is therefore homicide.

8.2 I acknowledge that the fact that the persons responsible for Amar’s death have not been identified has caused the Kettule family significant frustration and has inevitably compounded their grief. It is hoped that one day evidence will come to light that will result in the identification of these individuals and will see them ultimately brought to justice.

9 Close of Inquest 9.1 I would like to thank coronial advocate, Sergeant Tim O’Donnell, for his assistance in preparation for the inquest, and in the conduct of the inquest itself. I also thank Detective Sergeant Brenton Sommerville, the officer in charge of the police investigation, for the comprehensive investigation he has overseen and for compiling the coronial brief of evidence.

9.2 On behalf of the Coroners Court, I offer my sincere and respectful condolences to Amar’s family.

9.3 I close this inquest.

Magistrate Kasey Pearce Deputy State Coroner Coroner’s Court of New South Wales Date 5 November 2025