Inside the surprising prison life of assassin who executed Rebels bikie boss – as he reveals incredible details of life behind bars

Assassin gunned down Rebels boss Nick Martin
Details of his life behind bars have emerged

An ex-army sharpshooter who gunned down Rebels bikie boss Nick Martin from 300m away is living a ‘pleasant and stress-free’ life behind bars.

The assassin revealed how he feels better in jail than on the outside, and fills his time by watching TV, playing on an Xbox, and hitting the gym.

His jail cell is plastered with the smiling faces of loved ones, and he has painted a mural of a turtle on the prison wall with other inmates.

Martin, 51, was fatally shot through the chest on December 12, 2020, while watching a drag race with his family at Kwinana Motorplex in Perth.

The hitman, whose name is suppressed for his own safety, will testify at the trial of David James Pye, the alleged mastermind of the assassination, next month.

He cut a deal with prosecutors to testify at Pye’s trial in exchange for just 20 years in jail.

Despite arguing in court he should be released even earlier than that, his life at the maximum-security jail, which also can’t be identified, doesn’t seem so bad.

‘I am in the highest security section of one of the highest security prisons in the state,’ he said in correspondence from his cell, seen by Daily Mail Australia.

**The ex-army sharpshooter who gunned down Rebels bikie boss Nick Martin from 300m away is living a ‘pleasant and stress-free’ life behind bars**

**Nick Martin (pictured) died in the arms of his wife Amanda as she tried to give him CPR. His last words were: ‘Babe, I’ve been shot’**

‘But as bad as that may sound it really is quite pleasant and stress free.

‘Due to the regular schedule and predictability of each day, my PTSD has taken a backseat and not long after being here, I felt better than I had in a long time.

‘It is strict in here and we are limited to what we can do but the guards are always fair to us, as long we follow the rules everyone is nice enough.’

The shooter described his single cell as ‘spacious, clean and comfortable’ with its own TV and Xbox, and access to an expansive prison library.

‘We even got to paint a mural in the exercise yard, so we put a turtle mural on the wall, so that kept us busy for a week and now it has a bit of colour,’ he said.

He said he and ‘the guys’ trained ‘rain, hail or shine’ at the prison gym boxing, skipping, lifting weights, and learning Brazilian jujitsu.

‘We are a happy bunch and support each other to eat right and train hard,’ he said.

‘I am the only one in here with army training so I am always trying to get the other guys fit and teach them discipline so they can end up leaving here better than when they arrived.

**The assassin detailed to Daily Mail Australia how he felt better in jail than on the outside, and filled his time by watching TV, playing on an Xbox, and hitting the gym**

**The shooter described his single cell as ‘spacious, clean and comfortable’ with its own TV and Xbox, and access to an expansive prison library**

‘Especially the younger guys when they come in I try to take them under my wing and get them feeling fitter and stronger.’

The jail also has pool and ping pong tables when inmates feel like being less active.

The assassin said his strict training regime was part of a detailed plan to prepare himself for life in the real world when he is released.

‘I need to preserve my body so when I get out I’m still in good enough shape to make the most of my life on the outside, so that’s why I meditate and workout everyday with no exception,’ he said.

He is also trying to get a university degree in a bid to safeguard his future on the outside following his release, but moaned that jail authorities may make that difficult.

‘I am not sure if the prison will allow me to begin starting a proper degree, so will have to apply and hopefully they will allow me as I would love to leave here with a master’s degree,’ he said.

The killer said he wanted to study journalism, human biology, or humanitarian aid and got high distinctions in a bridging course he had to do first.

**Martin, 51, was fatally shot through the chest on December 12, 2020, while watching a drag race with his family at Kwinana Motorplex in Perth**

**The chaos at the racetrack on December 12, 2020, after Martin was gunned down**

Despite his name and where he is imprisoned being suppressed, the assassin said that was not at his request and he didn’t care who knew.

‘Everyone knows my identity,’ he said at a court hearing in May.

‘The suppression order only serves to cut my name out of the media – so I don’t oppose any reporting.’ The judge kept the suppression in place anyway.

He has also written an autobiography, which police are keeping under lock and key at least until after the Pye trial has played out.

Martin died at the scene in front of hundreds of horrified families and children including his own wife and step-daughter.

After being hit, Martin told his wife Amanda, ‘Babe, I’ve been shot’, as she tried to give him CPR before he died in her arms.

Another man, convicted drug dealer and the boyfriend of Martin’s stepdaughter, Ricky Chapman, was injured in the shooting by the same bullet that killed Martin, with a bullet fragment later recovered from his arm.

Justice Stephen Hall said the hitman would have faced 30 years in jail if he hadn’t made his deal with prosecutors. He will now be eligible for parole after 18 years.

Two weeks before the killing, the assassin did a reconnaissance trip to the motorplex and watched Martin from just 10m away as he added the finishing touches to the lethal plan.

The hitman went back to the motorplex three days beforehand and moved a safety ramp to give himself a better shot.

The next day he went to the bush and fired 200 rounds as practice and to fine-tune his sniper rifle.

**The assassin describes himself an adrenaline junkie and called his Polish girlfriend (pictured together before his arrest) his rock**

**Rebels bikie Nick Martin was ridden in to Pinnaroo Cemetery in a coffin covered in pictures of $100 bills (pictured) at his extravagant bikie funeral on December 23, 2020**

On the day of the assassination, he entered the pit area of the racetrack about 6.30pm and followed Martin into the spectator area to confirm he was sitting where he expected.

He then left the motorplex, dressed in a camouflage suit with gloves, and sneaked back in through a hole in the fence he cut earlier.

He crawled into an area of heavy vegetation between 7.23pm and 8.33pm where he had a direct line of sight to Martin.

From 335m away, he worked out the distance and wind speed and its effect on his shot and watched Martin through his rifle scope for 10 to 15 minutes.

Finally, he chose his moment and squeezed the trigger.

The killer then calmly packed up his gear and left. He would later get the barrel replaced on his rifle and changed his tyres again to avoid detection.

Police put the shooter under surveillance and followed him from the gun shop to his stash in bushland in Warnbro, where they found $249,550 in cash hidden in PVC pipes. They also raided his house after his arrest

Police spent months on the investigation with 100 officers on the job, and the WA Government offered a $1 million reward to anyone who had information on the shooter.

For all his careful planning and execution of the assassination itself, the shooter – not being a professional hitman – was sloppy in covering his tracks.

Police found his footprints near where the fatal shot was fired from and determined they were made by Fila running shoes.

CCTV footage of the motorplex showed him there on November 28, December 9, and December 12, wearing the same kind of shoes, which helped police hone in on him as a potential suspect.

Mobile phone data also put him in the shooting location before Martin was shot dead.

The gun barrel was also a loose end, as police seized the rifle barrel from the armourer and matched it to the bullet after it was extracted from Chapman’s arm.

Police put the shooter under surveillance and followed him from the gun shop to his stash in bushland in Warnbro.

There they found $249,550 in cash hidden in PVC pipes.

Police were ready to swoop on March 15, and the assassin confessed on June 2 in exchange for a lighter sentence.

Source: Daily Mail