Nik Radev

{{Infobox criminal

| name = Nikolai-Minev Radev

| image_name = Nradev1.jpg

| image_caption =

| image_size =

| birth_date = 29 January 1959

| birth_place = People's Republic of Bulgaria

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2003|4|15|1959|1|29|df=y}}

| death_place = Coburg, Victoria, Australia

| occupation = Mob enforcer, extortionist, drug dealer, wrestler (formerly){{cite web | url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/bulgarian-nick-dies-in-flurry-of-shots-20030417-gdvk0e.html | title=Bulgarian Nick dies in flurry of shots | date=17 April 2003 }}{{Citation|title=Tough Nuts {{!}} Nikolai Radev {{!}} The Invader {{!}} S2E1|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Upnkh4NJfps|access-date=5 December 2019}}{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bmjGDwAAQBAJ&dq=nik+radev&pg=PT32 | title=Cops, Drugs, Lawyer X and Me | isbn=978-0-7336-4381-1 | last1=Dale | first1=Paul | last2=Petraitis | first2=Vikki | date=25 February 2020 | publisher=Hachette Australia }}

| conviction_status = Deceased

| spouse = Sylvia Bruno{{Cite web|url=https://www.mysterytribune.com/news-criminal-wives-australia-book-rochelle-jackson/|title=News: Criminal Wives of Australia in a New Book By Rochelle Jackson|date=27 February 2012|website=MysteryTribune|access-date=5 December 2019}}

| children = 1 daughter

| parents =

| conviction = Armed robbery, assault, blackmail, extortion and rape{{Cite web|url=https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/police-courts-victoria/who-really-murdered-nik-the-russian-radev/news-story/bb03f0d090df8e09d533607f5f14bb66|title=Who really shot Nik the Russian?}}

| alias = The Russian

| charge =

| conviction_penalty = Short prison terms

}}

Nikolai-Minev Radev ({{langx|bg|Николай "Ник" Радев}}; 29 January 1959 – 15 April 2003), nicknamed The Russian, was a Bulgarian career criminal and mobster who was involved in crime in Melbourne, Australia.

Biography

Nik Radev relocated from his native Bulgaria (then known as the People's Republic of Bulgaria) to Australia in the early 1980s where he was granted refugee status. Unbeknownst to the Australian authorities, he already had an extensive criminal record in Bulgaria and had served time in both Bulgarian and Turkish prisons.{{cite web | url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/tough-nuts-thursday-june-30-20110624-1gioe.html | title=Tough Nuts, Thursday, June 30 | date=29 June 2011 }}

Radev had a notoriety for his sadistic and ruthless behavior. He was known to terrorize his extortion clients until they complied with his demands.{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWoIM5v-13E | title=Nikolai Radev "The Invader" | Australian Crime Stories | True Crime Central | website=YouTube | date=31 December 2022 }} It was reported that he once raped a man who owed him money in front of the man's own wife and children. During his life he was jailed for assault, blackmail, threats to kill, extortion, firearm offences, armed robbery and drug charges. According to police he was an enforcer for the Melbourne head of the Russian mafia, robbing drug dealers.

Radev was shot and killed in Queen St Coburg on 15 April 2003, as part of a series of similar events that are commonly referred to as the Melbourne gangland killings.{{Cite web|url=https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/career-criminal-nikolai-nik-the-russian-radev-lived-and-died-by-the-gun/news-story/700e3238d83fb3b75e1be2a5dcc3602b|title=Gun-toting bully died as he lived|date=16 April 2003|website=www.heraldsun.com.au|access-date=5 December 2019}}

He was shot seven times in the head and chest in front of his bodyguard after he stood out from his black Mercedes-Benz CLK 500 convertible. A third person in Nik Radev's entourage was driving a light green 2000 Toyota Camry CSI sedan parked directly in front of his Mercedes-Benz near the corner of Queen & Reynard Streets, Coburg also witnessed the murder.{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}}

Victoria Police told The Age that they believed his death was planned by a father and son drug manufacturing team, and a hitman suspected of four other murders carried out the killing in a red Ford Falcon XR6 Turbo sedan. His associates Damien Cossu and Alfonso Traglia were with Radev at the time of the murder but claimed they could not identify the gunman, and were subsequently named by police as 'persons of interest'.

Despite only having worked for eight months during the 1980s at a fish and chip shop, Radev was killed wearing Versace clothing and a $20,000 watch, and was buried in a gold-plated coffin.{{cite book|last1=Silvester|first1=John|last2=Rule|first2=Andrew|title=Underbelly : the Gangland war|url=https://archive.org/details/underbellygangla00silv|url-access=limited|date=2008|publisher=Sly Ink/Floradale Publishing|location=Australia|isbn=978-0977544066|page=[https://archive.org/details/underbellygangla00silv/page/n76 68]}} Victorian Police suspect that Andrew Veniamin and Carl Williams were behind the killing.

Popular culture

Radev was portrayed by Don Hany in the Australian TV series Underbelly and the subsequent telemovie Underbelly Files: Tell Them Lucifer was Here.

References

External links

[http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/13/1071125712163.html Wise guys, tough guys, dead guys] John Silvester, The Age 14 December 2003
[http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/04/19/1050172796294.html Why gangland's bloody code is hard to crack] John Silvester, The Age 20 April 2003
[http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/22/1071941669860.html Six named in underworld investigations] Steve Butcher, The Age 23 December 2003
[http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/12/1071125658986.html New lead in Bulgarian Nik's killing] John Silvester The Age 13 December 2003