Read also: Body off Cronulla identified as Jamie Gao
Jamie Gao allegedly walked into storage unit 803 at the Padstow Rent-A-Space on May 20 last year expecting to become a rich man.
Instead, as Crown Prosecutor Chris Maxwell QC told the NSW Supreme Court: "He was shot and killed, dragged into the back of the white stationwagon and dropped out to sea" .
The body of the 20-year-old student was found, tied up in a silver surfboard bag and a blue tarpaulin, floating off the coast of Cronulla six days later.
The two men allegedly responsible for the killing, Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara, are now on trial for murder.
Both have pleaded not guilty to murder and supplying a prohibited drug.
In his opening address to the jury on Monday, Mr Maxwell said Mr Rogerson and Mr McNamara were involved in a "joint criminal enterprise" to kill Mr Gao and then steal 2.78kg of the drug ice he had in his possession.
Mr Maxwell said that Mr McNamara met Mr Gao some months before the murders when he was working as a private investigator hired by two brothers - Lok Lam and Kit Lam - who were friends of Mr Gao and facing drugs charges.
In the following months, Mr Gao and Mr McNamara allegedly had a number of meetings at the Meridian club in Hurstville.
Not long after, Mr Gao allegedly began talking about a drug deal with 'Glen'.
"I expect you will hear from Jamie Gao's cousin ... that he told him that street-level dealing was below him and that if you're going to do a deal it's better to do one big deal," Mr Maxwell told the start of what is expected to be a three-month trial.
"That same cousin will also say that in early May 2014 Jamie Gao told him that the deal with 'Glen' was going to be 'massive' and that he was going to make money and be rich soon".
The court heard that at 1.45pm on May 20 last year CCTV cameras at the Rent-A-Space in Padstow captured Mr Gao walking into an unlit storage unit with Mr McNamara.
Approximately four minutes later Mr Rogerson also allegedly walked into the shed.
"At 2.18 both accused were captured on CCTV dragging a silver surfboard cover, obviously of considerable weight out from the storage shed," Mr Maxwell said.
"Together they lifted the bag into the white station wagon."
He said that four days later police executed a search warrant at the Cote De-Azure apartment complex and seized the white stationwagon allegedly used during the murder and subsequent disposal of Mr Gao's body.
Officers allegedly found 2.78 kilograms of methyl amphetamine or "ice" in two brown pillow cases stashed in the car.
They also allegedly discovered a K-Mart receipt for the purchase of the pillow cases, along with a plastic jug and a cooking spoon.
Mr Maxwell said that CCTV footage from K-Mart revealed that, at the time of the purchase, a person with a "very similar appearance to Mr McNamara" had purchased items from the same store.
Mr Maxwell said the Crown could not prove which of the two accused pulled the trigger but that it did not matter because both men were centrally involved in the joint criminal enterprise to commit the crime.
He said that if the jury was not satisfied that Mr Rogerson was guilty of murder they could find him guilty of accessory after the fact to murder because of his alleged involvement in the disposal of the body.
The trial continues.
