An octogenarian pensioner who shot a strata manager with a shortened rifle had trained in the Romanian army and has a history of mental illness, a court has heard.
Ilie Istudor, 86, is charged with shooting with intent to murder Stephen Smith, 66, during a body corporate meeting at a Lakemba unit block on April 24.
Mr Istudor and Mr Smith were allegedly engaged in a long-running dispute about the management of the strata scheme when Mr Smith was shot in the neck.
During a bail hearing in the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday, Acting Justice Martin Blackmore was told prior to the meeting, Mr Istudor hid a .22 calibre rifle in the garden outside the Quigg Street apartments.
During a break in the annual general meeting, Mr Istudor retrieved the gun and shot Mr Smith in front of horrified neighbours. The pair then fell down a flight of stairs, leaving Mr Istudor with a fractured skull.
In opposing bail, Crown Prosecutor Daryl Gunter said Mr Istudor "is no newcomer to guns. He trained in the Romanian army."
"He told police he could shoot a 20-cent piece off a fence from a hundred metres away. So here is a man angry, armed and able to carry out his threats."
The court also heard when police searched his apartment they found a note allegedly written by Mr Istudor in which he threatened to kill Mr Smith and then himself.
"He said, I will put an end to him, and then to myself," Mr Gunter said.
Justice Blackmore was told Mr Istudor, who has been in jail for five months, wanted to be released on bail so he could receive medical treatment from his regular GP.
However Mr Gunter said that although Mr Istudor is 86 and "one would expect him to be fragile", the "fire" in his heart and evident in his actions has left prosecutors with serious fears that he might pose a danger to the community.
Justice Blackmore refused bail, saying although Mr Istudor was now being treated with anti-psychotic medication, he posed an unacceptable risk to Mr Smith and the witnesses to the shooting.
"There are no conditions that I could set that would give me confidence that he wouldn't seek to pursue the attack on the victim or the witnesses," Justice Blackmore said.
