Bail for 36-year-old Paul Younan was refused in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Wednesday, with the risk of him failing to appear to face a possible murder conviction deemed unacceptable.
Younan is one of four men charged over the killing in Burleigh Heads on Australia Day more than 13 years ago.
The crown case against him suggests he fired two shots at Mr Ruston following a road rage incident in which words and hand gestures were exchanged.
It's alleged both cars had pulled over and Mr Ruston got out of his ute before a gun was fired from the rear passenger window of the second vehicle and it sped off.
The court was told a Samurai sword was missing from Mr Ruston's home following an unrelated incident earlier that day, but the Crown noted there was no witness evidence to suggest he was holding it when he died.
Younan and two co-accused, Toni Elbayeh, 39, and Hysam Hamdan, 43, were extradited from NSW to Queensland to face the charges after being arrested in Sydney.
Younan is charged with murder and multiple counts of perjury, while Elbayeh is charged with murder with an alternative of accessory after the fact, corruption of a witness and perjury.
Hamdan, arrested while allegedly attempting to board a flight to Dubai carrying $25,000 cash, faces a murder charge with an alternative of accessory to murder.
Former bikie enforcer Brent Luke Simpson, 45, also faces charges of being an accessory, attempting to corrupt a witness and perjury.