Accused’s sister ‘sorry’ after CBD deadly rampage
THE sister of a man accused of slashing a woman to death and stabbing another in a Sydney CBD rampage has apologised for his alleged “despicable” actions.
Investigators are trawling through Mert Ney’s electronic devices, social media accounts and family home as they try to determine why the 20-yearold sought to kill and injure innocent people on Tuesday.
Mr Ney allegedly killed 24year-old Michaela Dunn in a Clarence St unit before stabbing 41-year-old Linda Bo at the Hotel CBD, walking down York St with a knife and being restrained by bystanders.
Police believe Mr Ney attended the Clarence St apartment for “the purposes of prostitution”.
Ms Dunn was later found at the unit with a laceration to her neck and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Her mother told Nine she was a “beautiful girl from a beautiful family” and “very much loved”. CATS superstar Gary Ablett put Modewarre Football Club youngsters through their paces in a private clinic last night.
Shrieks of delight rang from a crowd of muddy junior players as they kicked, handballed and marked with the popular player.
Ablett took time out from his busy schedule to run the two-hour training session, while starstruck children scampered over the soggy grounds.
He was a star junior at Modewarre, winning the BFL under-18s league best-and-fairest award as a
The 24-year-old was a former Rosebank College student and studied at the University of Notre Dame with a friend describing her as a “true delight”.
Mr Ney’s sister said her brother had been domestically violent in the lead-up to the incident and suffered several mental illnesses.
She said she didn’t want to go near him and described his alleged actions as “despicable”.
“All the words I can say won’t ever bring her back. I 16-year-old back in 2000. But Ablett shot down the suggestion that he might return to the club in the future.
“The plan once my AFL career is finished is to hang the boots up for good,” he said.
“But it’s really nice getting back down here. I know this ground very well, lots of great memories from down this way.
“Nathan (Ablett) is still running around down here as well so I try to get down to as many games as I can to watch him.” want to say I’m really sorry, she was defenceless,” said Mr Ney’s sister, who asked not to be named.
Police say Mr Ney was carrying a USB stick with information about recent mass casualties in New Zealand and the US, and could be heard on video footage shouting “Allahu Akbar”.
But his sister didn’t believe he subscribed to extremist ideology.
“All this stuff about extremism, white supremacy, stuff like that, that’s news to me ... it was using religion as an excuse,” she said.
Mr Ney remains under police guard in hospital and is yet to be interviewed by police about the incident that brought the city’s streets to a standstill.
NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said the rampage had not yet been classed as a terrorist incident and the “lone actor” had no known links to terrorist organisations.
Mr Fuller said Mr Ney had recently self-admitted to a mental health facility and had been listed as missing by family.
He was captured on CCTV arriving at the Clarence St apartment building at 1.30pm and leaving about 20 minutes later, before allegedly stabbing Ms Bo in the shoulder.
It’s understood Ms Bo, an employee at shipping company Cosco, and is in a stable condition in hospital.