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Sign Co. owner charged with murdering customer.
11am Monday 7th March 2016:
Inline National Signage was the scene of a deadly six-hour siege yesterday starting with the death of a 43-year-old customer and ending with the gunman’s suicide.Father-of-one Michael Bassal (43) was shot dead by Wayne Williams (33) while Bassal’s two brothers were injured. The gunman then held three factory workers captive before turning his weapon on himself, dying at the scene.
Police believe the siege was sparked by a dispute over a sign job between the Bassal brothers and Inline. There are also reports the shooter had ties to the Finks bikie gang, however police say the shooting was not gang related but was sparked by a dispute over a sign job.
The three brothers, Michael, Terry and Mark, run a construction business and were reportedly invited to the premises to resolve a dispute over a sign that they had ordered but not yet received. The Bassal family’s lawyer says the meeting had been organised after a number of requests about the status of the signage, and a request for a refund of the money paid.Inline Signage owner Chantelle Tonna was charged with serious indictable offence after she allegedly failed to provide police with adequate assistance over the matter. The 30-year-old is due to appear in court next month, along with the gunman’s father who was found on similar charges and for discharging a firearm in a public place.
The shooting took place inside of the Inline National Signage factory which operates in a Sydney industrial complex.
Bassal died from fatal gun wounds after collapsing onto the grass outside the company’s building.
Three sign shop employees- including a man working his first shift for the company – were held hostage at the workshop for six hours while police attempted to negotiate with the armed offender.A machine operator and his wife are also believed to have been present in the factory during the siege, however hid from the gunman in the toilet.
The signage company began in the 1970s and designs, manufactures and installs for the sign industry and is a family-owned, second generation business. It is unclear whether it will remain open for business following the incident and the owner’s charges.
UPDATE
South-west Sydney sign maker Inline National Signage, which was the scene of a deadly siege that killed one customer and injured two more, was declared insolvent last year with an alleged list of unpaid creditors.
ProPrint understands Inline went into liquidation in early 2014 and was then bought out by current owner Chantelle Tonna. A sign industry source says the business was formerly owned by Tonna’s ex-husband who sold the company to his then wife. The pair only finalised their divorce several weeks ago.
ProPrint also understands that Tonna and deceased gunman Williams had been recently dating. Tonna had called the Williams to the premises to assist her in dealing with the customers in a dispute, who he then shot. Williams had links to the Finks bikie gang but the shooting was not related to the gangs.
Shots rang out from the Ingleburn based business on Monday morning, which resulted in the death of customer Michael Bassal who visited the store in a pre-arranged meeting with his two brothers in regards to a paid order they had not received.
Reports say the men paid approximately $40,000 to Inline for the manufacturing and installation of signage for their construction company. The Bassal family’s lawyer says, “They had contracted with Inline Signs to supply signage for a property they were developing.”
The other two Bassal brothers sustained gunshot wounds before the gunman Williams took three factory workers hostage in a subsequent six hour siege, then turned the weapon on himself. Police stormed the factory at 5pm and found the shooter dead at the scene.
The previous owner of the insolvent sign manufacturer reportedly has ‘nothing to do with the company’, according to an Ingleburn business owner, and was not involved with the shooting.
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The Ingleburn business owner who wishes to remain nameless says Inline ‘never stopped trading’ after going into liquidation in May 2014, and Tonna purportedly bought it out and continued to operate the business without interruption.Inline, which is listed on the ASIC as ‘Sparta Holdings’, was appointed to liquidator Daniel Ivan Cvitanovic of Worrells Solvency and Forensic Accountants.
Since its appointment as insolvent in May 2014, there have been five meetings between creditors. A creditors list has not been made available but it is believed several businesses which supplied material to Inline are owed debt.
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An industry source says a fire-sale of Inline’s assets could occur ‘any day now’ and alleges ‘the business is dead’ due to the death on business property and the owner’s criminal charges.Tonna was charged with serious indictable offence after she reportedly failed to provide police with assistance following the murder. She is due to appear in court next month and was granted strict conditional bail. There is no official word on whether Inline will continue to trade up until this time.
Inline has several divisions outside of sign manufacturing and installation, including InBond architectural panels, InLed which sells LED lights, and a project management subsidiary.
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UPDATE:
Sign business owner Chantelle Strnad charged with murder.
The owner of Inline National Signage, the company involved in a deadly customer dispute in March, has been charged with murder and is due to appear in court today.Business owner Chantelle Strnad was arrested at Campbelltown Police Station yesterday afternoon charged with both the murder of sign customer Michael Bassal, and for being an accessory after the fact to murder.
Strnad was been refused bail and was scheduled to appear at Campbelltown Local Court earlier this morning.
The charges follow an incident where Inline customer Michael Bassal was fatally shot by Strnad’s associate Wayne Williams at the sign shop, with Bassal’s two brothers also shot but not killed.
The bothers were in dispute with Inline over $40,000 worth of signage that the three brothers had paid to be produced for their construction company but had not received. The shooting occurred after the men had been invited to the Ingleburn premises in a pre-arranged meeting.
Williams opened fire on the three brothers on March 7, before turning the gun on himself. Strnad’s alleged role in Michael Bassal’s death and the resulting six-hour siege led to her arrest.
The company located on Herald Road in Ingleburn has been shut down since the fatal shooting. An industry insider told ProPrint there has been no movement on the premises, and it is likely operations will close for good following the owner’s criminal charges.
NSW Police released a statement which reads, “Her arrest follows extensive investigations into the shooting death of a 44-year-old man at a factory unit on Heald Road, Ingleburn, on Monday 7 March 2016.”
“Detectives attached to Strike Force Belgica believe the man was shot during a business dispute; his two brothers sustained gunshot wounds. The alleged shooter died at the scene a short time later. The woman was this afternoon charged with one count of murder, and one count of being an accessory after the fact to murder.”
Strnad pled guilty to concealing a serious indictable offence in court last month after failing to assist officers at the scene of the crime in Sydney’s south-west.
Inline National Signage was in liquidation at the time of the incident. Inline was appointed liquidators two years ago and is listed on the ASIC as Sparta Holdings.
Inline operated several divisions outside of sign manufacturing and installation, including InBond architectural panels and a project.
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