HE helped facilitate the supply of what turned out to be a fake gun, the scam allegedly leading to the murder of his mate, Anthony Nugent, only 24 hours later.
But a bit over a month after he was involved in setting up the deal that police allege had fatal consequences, a Newcastle man supplied another pistol to one of the men accused of killing the well-known Hamilton South petty crook.
The man, an associate of Mr Nugent's before he was shot in the chest at close range in Fowler Street on September 6, 2022, had pleaded guilty to supplying a pistol to an unauthorised person, admitting to acting as an intermediary in the fake firearm sale.
But he had pleaded not guilty to the second set of firearm supply charges that occurred a month later and was expected to face a trial in Newcastle District this week.
But on Monday morning he was re-arraigned and pleaded guilty to taking part in the supply of a 9mm pistol at Shortland on October 14, 2022.
The Newcastle Herald reported in April that Mr Nugent had been gunned down 24 hours after supplying a gel blaster, a life-like toy gun, to a group of men in the car park of Charlestown swimming pool.
It was between 8pm and 9pm on September 5, 2022 when Mr Nugent and the other group met, the 57-year-old handed over a hard plastic case in exchange for $15,000 and the buyer immediately got in his car and left.
Several hours later, after Mr Nugent had returned home and given his associate his cut of the cash, those who had been so desperate to purchase the gun realised that it was a fake.
According to court documents, the men realised they had been "ripped off... and sold a gel blaster" during what was supposed to be the purchase of a genuine handgun.
"This led to a dispute between the parties," according to an agreed statement of facts.
It was about 11pm the next day - September 6 - when Mr Nugent answered the front door of a unit in Fowler Street and was shot in the chest at close range with a shotgun.
He died at the scene while his partner desperately called triple-zero.
Detectives allege Mr Raad was the shooter, but all three men travelled to Fowler Street before Mr Nugent was gunned down.
The trio have not entered pleas, remain behind bars and will next appear in court on Wednesday.
The documents tendered in the case of Mr Nugent's associate in April outlined the last few days of the 57-year-old's life, when he was apparently broke and cooking up various "schemes" to come up with some cash.
One of those that crystallized was to sell a firearm and Mr Nugent's associate was reminded of a man he had run into at Community Corrections who had said he knew someone who wanted to buy a gun.
Over the next few days, Mr Nugent's associate and the man had a text exchange where they discussed facilitating the sale of the gun for $15,000.
Mr Nugent's associate also sent the man images of a black pistol, which turned out to be the gel blaster, which had been sent to him by Mr Nugent.
"My mate's ready to go, is this 100 [per cent] for 6-7 tonight," the man asked Mr Nugent's associate.
The next night the two groups met in the car park outside Charlestown pool and the case containing the gel blaster was exchanged for $15,000.
The two men who set up the firearm sale took their respective cuts and the men went their separate ways.
The next night Mr Nugent was dead and police were hunting for his killers.
Meanwhile, on October 14, 2022, before all those allegedly involved had been arrested, Mr Nugent's associate supplied another firearm, described in court documents as a machine pressed 9mm pistol, to one of the men accused of murdering the 57-year-old.
Mr Nugent's associate remains behind bars and will be sentenced for both firearm supplies in October, alongside another man who in June pleaded guilty to concealing the murder and bringing a shortened shotgun to a unit at Hamilton South on the night it was allegedly used to gun down Mr Nugent.
