Inside cold case murder of boss at western Sydney workshop

A man who ferociously beat his boss to death inside a western Sydney workshop nearly 30 years ago did so after a workplace dispute “got well out of control”, a court has heard.

Kubilay Kilincer, 60, will later this week be sentenced over the brutal and bloody murder of Hasan Dastan, who died in a pool of blood on the floor of his Blacktown auto-wrecking business in December, 1995.

Mr Dastan, a beloved father and a well-respected member of the Turkish community, suffered extensive fractures to his skull and exhibited defensive wounds.

Police officers found a pole lodged in his mouth and a bloodied sledgehammer nearby.

The cold case went unsolved for decades with police in January 2020 offering a $1 million reward for information.

His former employee, Kilincer, 60, was arrested at a Sydney Olympic Park hotel before facing trial this year.

Kilincer, who was Mr Dastan’s only fulltime employee, was a suspect for years but was not arrested until January 2020.

He denied attacking Mr Dastan on the morning of December 11, 1995 but was found guilty by a jury in September this year.

“It was a ferocious and brutal attack on the deceased, which was undertaken with an intention to kill,” crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield told a sentence hearing before Justice Helen Wilson on Wednesday.

The crown prosecution put forward three potential theories as to why a “desperate” Kilincer killed Mr Dastan.

Mr Hatfield told the court on Wednesday that the two men were involved in a dispute over $1000 and Kilincer’s failure to account for it and that Dastan was considering firing him.

He also said it’s theorised he could have been killed as part of a robbery.

“Mr Dastan knew what was happening, sought to defend himself, and must have experienced no doubt fear and pain,” Justice Wilson said.

Kilincer’s barrister, Ertunc Ozen, told the court the killing must have been the result of a dispute inside the workshop on the morning of December 11, 1995 and argued it would not have been a premeditated attack.

“What must have occurred was there was a dispute on that Monday morning which got well out of control, causing the loss of control of my client, leading to the death of Mr Dastan,” Mr Ozen said.

Kilincer is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday.