Married at First Sight star Jessika Power cries about murder of her ex-boyfriend Sam 'The Punisher' Abdulrahim

Abdulrahim, who had a short-lived romance with the MAFS star, was shot dead in a car park on Tuesday (January 28).

The 32-year-old was a known underworld figure in Melbourne, Australia, and is believed that he was murdered by gangland rivals. There had reportedly been several attempts on his life before the fatal shooting, which happened in a car park outside the Quest Hotel on High Street in the north Melbourne suburb of Preston about 10am on Tuesday.

Power and Abdulrahim, who was a former member of bikie club the Mongols, were romantically linked for a short time six years ago. They met shortly after he was released from prison, where he had served time for killing a woman in a high speed crash in 2015.

Power told Daily Mail Australia that her fears about the underworld were one of the reasons she ended the relationship. But, she said they had continued to stay in touch and that he had gone on to get married and have a daughter.

“It's been really, really hard to hear,” she told the publication. Becoming emotional, she went on: “We ended on really good terms. He's always been supportive to me if I needed him, even up until a few months ago. I just feel so sad for his wife and his child - she's going to grow up without a dad and it's such a toxic world to be in, that underworld thing.”

Power went on to pay tribute to her former partner, who was also a professional boxer, and said he was a “great protector”.

“Everybody looks at these bikies and Mongols as bad people, but he was a family man, he was dedicated to his family,' she said. “He was protective of his family and he was certainly protective of me when we were together. He's a dad, he's a husband, he's someone's son and he's just a really good guy.”

Power met Abdulrahim through mutual friends in 2019, but despite the positive qualities she said he had, it was his underworld connections that caused her to end the romance.

“I just feel like that underworld thing at the minute in Melbourne and Sydney is just getting out of hand. It was part of the reason why I ended up leaving because I just didn't want to be around that,” she said. “It makes my head rattle because there are all these people are out there having these wars, but basically you're assassinating someone's father, brother or kid.”

When Power met Abdulrahim he had just finished serving two years of a three-years-and-three-months jail sentence he received after pleading guilty to killing 88-year-old great-grandmother Muriel Hulett in a high-speed car crash in 2015.

He had been driving at 110km per hour down the wrong side of the road in a 60km per hour zone when he lost control of his car and slammed into three cars, before hitting Hulett's vehicle front-on. She died eight days later.

Over the years, Abdulrahim had reportedly been the target of three murder contracts, a prison beating, three assaults, a dozen fire bombings and seven shootings. In one attempt on his life he was shot eight times and survived and in another he escaped after a barrage of bullets were fired at him.

He had reportedly been living in hiding since the two shootings, which took place at his former family home in Thomastown last year. On his Instagram account he reportedly posted deliberately false information so that his true location would not be found by the gangland rivals who were after him.

The killing of Hulett was not the only crime that Abdulrahim was said to be involved in, which is why he had become a target for rival gangs.

He was also linked to the 2016 murder of northern suburbs drug trafficker Kadir Ors by Marrogi outside Campbellfield Plaza. Allies of Ors believed Abdulrahim had arranged to meet the victim at the shopping centre, where he was then fatally shot by crime boss George Marrogi.

On Tuesday, Victoria Police's Homicide Squad were called to the hotel where Abdulrahim was shot dead. “Emergency services were called to reports a man had been shot in a car park on High Street in Preston shortly after 10.30am on Tuesday 28 January,” a spokesperson said.

Abdulrahim was not identified at the time, but police also confirmed that they “believe the incident was targeted.” Underworld sources say Abdulrahim had many enemies, according to Daily Mail Australia.

Among the others with a grudge against the infamous underworld figure were reportedly his former bikie club the Mongols, as well as high-ranking members of the Comancheros and a host of Middle Eastern organised crime figures.

It is not known at the time of writing who was responsible for his death.

• Anyone who witnessed the incident or has dashcam/CCTV footage, or any information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or visit www.crimestoppersvic.com.au