On a bright Saturday morning in September 2023, Gavin “Capable” Preston sat enjoying a casual outdoor breakfast at Sweet Lulu’s cafe in Keilor, Melbourne. Within seconds, his world erupted in a hail of gunfire. Two masked assassins in black unleashed a storm of bullets, striking the feared underworld enforcer at least seven times — including a devastating head shot that ended his life instantly. His associate Abbas “AJ” Maghnie was blasted in the stomach but survived the ambush. Diners screamed and dived under tables as the quiet suburban cafe turned into a warzone in broad daylight.
What has left investigators and the criminal underworld stunned is not just the brazen execution, but the shockingly pitiful fee the two young hitmen allegedly received for risking everything. Jaeden Tito, 25, and Rabii Zahabe, 26 — both from Sydney — were found guilty of murder and attempted murder after a Victorian Supreme Court jury deliberated for just three days. Yet court whispers and police intelligence now point to an unbelievably low payment that shattered every norm of professional contract killings. Sources close to the investigation claim the pair accepted a sum so miserly it raises chilling questions: why would two relatively inexperienced young men fly interstate, execute a high-profile target in public, and destroy evidence for what amounted to pocket change?
This revelation has completely upended the usual narrative of gangland hits. In Melbourne’s violent underworld, where multimillion-dollar bounties are common — including rumours of a staggering $5 million contract on Preston’s head — the tiny compensation handed to Tito and Zahabe suggests something far darker than a simple paid assassination. Police now strongly suspect this was never purely about money. Instead, the traces at the crime scene, the sophisticated getaway plan involving multiple vehicles (one later torched), and the assassins’ desperate post-hit behaviour point directly to a powerful “final boss” operating with absolute control.
Forensic evidence was damning. DNA belonging to both men was recovered from balaclavas, gloves, and inside the three getaway cars. Zahabe had searched for Islamic prayers seeking forgiveness and countries without extradition treaties. Tito was seen flashing cash afterward and suffered an injury to his hand during the chaotic escape. Despite their claims of innocence and insistence they were not the shooters, the jury saw through the lies. Yet the question burning in every investigator’s mind remains: who commanded these two young men to walk into what was essentially a suicide mission for such a pathetic reward?
The pitiful fee theory has sent shockwaves through law enforcement. In typical underworld contracts, hitmen demand tens or hundreds of thousands for high-risk targets like Preston — a man with a long rap sheet who had only been released from prison months earlier after serving time for defensive homicide. He had made countless enemies among bikie gangs, the Marrogi crime family, and other heavy players. Preston was rumoured to have desecrated a rival’s grave, actions that reportedly placed a massive bounty on his head. So why would Tito and Zahabe settle for crumbs?
Police believe the mastermind — the hidden hand pulling the strings — holds terrifying leverage. This puppet master may have used threats, family pressure, debts, or promises of future power to force the young Sydney pair into the job. The low fee wasn’t payment; it was a token, a mere toy to seal their fate and ensure silence. By giving them almost nothing, the true boss guaranteed their expendability. If caught, they had little to lose by talking — yet both have remained tight-lipped, suggesting the fear of the real orchestrator outweighs any courtroom consequences.
This case exposes the rotten core of Australia’s gangland wars. A sunny breakfast spot became an execution ground because one shadowy figure decided Preston had to die. The mastermind remains free, watching from the shadows as two young men face life in prison. Intelligence reports suggest ongoing feuds involving Comancheros and other syndicates, but the identity of the person who green-lit this public hit is still a dark enigma.
As sentencing approaches, the bloody breakfast of September 9 continues to haunt Melbourne. Families who witnessed the horror demand answers. How deep does this conspiracy run? Was the pitiful fee a deliberate insult designed to humiliate the assassins and remind them of their place in a much larger game?
The verdict has delivered justice for the trigger-pullers, but the real monster — the calculating final boss who sacrificed two young lives for pocket change while protecting his own empire — is still out there. Until that hidden hand is exposed, Melbourne’s streets will never feel safe again.
The underworld doesn’t forgive, and it certainly doesn’t forget. Somewhere in the shadows, the true architect of this daylight massacre is already planning the next move… while two convicted killers pay the ultimate price for a fee that barely covered their plane tickets.
