![]() Wayne Rodney Schneider | One was lured to his death off a Sydney street, the other found in a shallow grave in Thailand. Now their violent ends are being linked to their dealings in multi-million dollar international drug rackets. Police now believe hours before he was abducted and murdered, Sydney gangster Raphael Joseph visited the ex-partner of former Sydney Hells Angel Wayne Schneider, who was abducted and murdered 18 months later. The two were friends who had risen through gang ranks to become major international criminals, each dealing in millions of dollars of drugs. | ![]() Raphael Joseph aka Hussony |
![]() | Raphael Joseph was a founding member of a vicious Assyrian crime gang DLAST HR while Schneider was a senior member of the Hells Angels before setting up a massive drug syndicate operating out of Thailand. Joseph received a text message on March 20, 2014 before he asked a friend to drive him to a deserted stretch of road where he got into the back seat of a waiting vehicle. He said he would be back in 30 minutes. He was never seen again. Police believe he is dead and was possibly tortured to find cash or drugs. | ![]() |
![]() | Joseph, who was previously known as Rafi Tooma and known as “Huss” or “Hussany” to his friends, was suspected of involvement in the murder of rival Bronx Boys gang member, Dimitri Debaz. Joseph said a $100,000 contract had been placed on his life and that members of Sydney’s Bronx Boys gang wanted to kill him. Police say Joseph, who was born in Iraq, was a highly sophisticated operator who worked at an international level to import drugs. | ![]() Dimitri Debaz |
![]() Wayne Schneider | Wayne Schneider began his career as a meth cook and later joined the Hells Angels in Sydney. In 2006 he was accused of shooting a bouncer outside a nightclub. In 2012 he relocated to Pattaya, Thailand. Police believe that a $1.5 billion drug bust, netting two tonnes of MDMA (ecstasy) and nearly one tonne of ice, was linked to the Hells Angels, Comancheros, and that Schneider was involved. Schneider’s naked body was found on November 30 last year in a shallow grave in eastern Thailand. Schneider's bodyguard Tony Bagnato was arrested in Cambodia days after the murder. Bagnato travelled to Thailand not long after the murder of Brad Dillon. | ![]() |
![]() | The naked body of Schneider, 38, was found buried in a two-metre-deep grave in roadside bushes near Pattaya. His neck was reportedly broken. Two security guards working at the housing estate told police they'd been threatened by a man with a gun and were warned to stay away. The guards then heard Mr Schneider calling for help and told police they saw five men with scarves tied across their faces bashing the 38-year-old. | ![]() |
![]() | ![]() American Tyler Gerard, 21, was arrested as he attempted to cross the Thai border | ![]() Truck used in Schneider's murder |