Killer taints family milestones
Spyros Voudouris celebrated his 18th birthday by having a beer with his dad.
It should have been a drink at a Paeroa bar yet he found himself taking a swig at his father’s grave.
Nestled next to an olive tree planted in the Greek man’s memory, he thought of his much-loved ‘‘Papa’’. They’d always talked of spending the milestone day together.
Spyros was 11-years-old when Jordan Voudouris was gunned down at the back of his pizzeria in the antiques town of Paeroa on the Hauraki Plains.
His killer or killers are yet to be brought to justice.
‘‘That is what we were going to do when he was alive – was go to a bar and have a beer,’’ Spryros, 18, recalls, smiling at the thought.
Instead, six years of family memories have been taken from Voudouris’ children – Sofia, 25, Mia, 22, Spyros, and Carrie Joyner.
Christmas, birthdays and weddings have gone by. With every one, there’s a sadness.
When Sofia married her husband it should have been her father on her arm.
‘‘Papa should have been there in some awkward, uncomfortable suit to walk me down the aisle and say silly jokes.
‘‘He should have given me away and waltzed with me at our father and daughter dance.
‘‘That day was stolen from me, from us.’’
Speaking for the first time in five years, Voudouris’ former partner Gwendalyn Richmond and children say they’ve never given up faith police will make an arrest.
‘‘Our hope is that the killers are caught and held accountable. That we will go on with our lives and dreams just like Papa wanted us to.
‘‘Papa would want us to go on and achieve success in our life and this is how we can honour him.’’
On a wintry Sunday night in June 2012, Voudouris closed up Mykonos on the main drag around 10pm.
He sat at his computer before closing it down at 1.30am.
Sometime between then and 4.30am a fatal shot was fired from a .22 calibre rifle.
The 55-year-old’s body was found the next day at the entranceway of the driveway about 25 metres from the rear of his store and upstairs flat where he lived.
But he wasn’t shot where he died. He likely stumbled forward 15 metres, possibly in search of help, to where he was discovered by a neighbouring antiques dealer on the Monday morning.
The front doors to the restaurant were locked and police say all of the activity on the night happened at the back.
As day broke over Paeroa, news trickled onto the streets. The legendary pizza man had been killed.
Yet it was another month before police revealed he was shot by what was confirmed this week as a .22 calibre rifle.
And police are looking for it, appealing to anyone who may have received or found an unexplained .22 calibre firearm of any type in the Paeroa area, or greater Waikato around the time of Jordan’s death.
In the early days, Detective Senior Sergeant Dean Anderson, who now has charge of the investigation, says more than 40 investigative staff worked the case.
It took eight days to complete a full forensic examination at the back entrance off Hall St.
Former Work and Income offices were transformed into a hub for Operation Olive. More than 400 witnesses were interviewed and reinterviewed in the first year. A $50,000 reward was offered the following February netting masses of information but no solid outcomes.
As with any unsolved homicide, rumours swirled.
Early suspicions focused on links to the gunpoint robbery of a Katikati dairy and a Mobil service station committed the same day.
‘‘Every offence committed in the Paeroa and wider surrounding areas were reviewed and a number investigated to identify any possible links to Jordan’s death,’’ Anderson says.
Then there was the young man who worked in the restaurant who argued with Voudouris and left his job.
‘‘We have spoken to this person at length and an explanation was offered for his location at the time.’’
Meat had previously been stolen from the restaurant’s freezer and those of neighbouring businesses. A friend had warned Voudouris to lock his gate.
Police will still not reveal if Voudouris had money in his pockets or whether anything was stolen on the night.
Anderson says there’s no clear motive for the killing but it’s likely those responsible intended to be at that location.
‘‘But it remains speculative as to whether Jordan was an intended target,’’ Anderson says.
‘‘It may not have been the intended outcome to the planned activity and things went terribly wrong extremely quickly.’’
Richmond and her family can’t imagine anyone would intentionally hurt their father.
‘‘He was such a nice guy. We never heard of anybody that he didn’t like, or that didn’t like him. In the Paeroa community – people knew if they went to Jordan they would get help.’’
Police say it’s likely the killer confided in others about their intentions that night. They may have started acting differently – upset, angry or highly nervous.
‘‘I have no doubt someone feels uncomfortable in the prospect that their silence continues to deprive Jordan’s family their right to answers.
‘‘Unsolved murders leave the community, families and police frustrated. They’re left wondering as to the reasons for the death, whether those responsible remain in their communities and cause extreme and unnecessary stress to many.’’
Voudouris’ death shattered the tight-knit town of Paeroa that only weeks earlier earned the community of the year award.
Flowers were stacked high in front of Mykonos where Voudouris served up pizzas for eight years. He loved small towns, Richmond says.
‘‘So many people, everyone knew him. We were blown away when we went to Paeroa to speak to the community. Then they held a concert and raised funds.’’
Perhaps it was a hard childhood on the streets of Athens that made neighbourly towns alluring.
Voudouris’ mother died when he was young and he was sent to an orphanage with his brothers.
By eight years old he was selling Lotto tickets and cigars, and making coffee runs for local businessmen on the streets.
But he wanted to see the world so he joined the merchant Navy and followed his older brother to New Zealand, settling here in 1981.
Gwendalyn met Jordan through mutual friends and the pair had three children – Sofia, Efthymia, Spyros. Jordan was a tinkerer. He always had a project on the go – fixing up old BMWs or building furniture. For a man of little education he could fix anything.
The couple separated around nine years before his death but maintained a good relationship. When Voudouris moved to Paeroa, the children and Richmond often visited.
Days were spent sitting outside his pizzeria or taking a drive to the beaches of Tairua or Thames.
Papa was a passionate man, his oldest daughter Sofia says.
‘‘He was a devoted and loving father who would always try his best to be there for school productions or a hockey game. We would chat a few times a week. There was always something we wanted to tell him about. He was always so proud of all of us.
‘‘My papa was always my best mate. We talked about anything and everything, especially boys.’’
Shortly before his death, Sofia introduced a boyfriend to her father. He gave a ‘‘nod and grunt’’ of approval. She went on to marry that same man.
You never move on, his children say. But you learn to live with the pain. It can creep in when you least expect it. At a certain time of day when their father used to call. When their mother makes a spanakopita filled with feta.
‘‘Sometimes you even think the phone’s ringing and it’s not.
‘‘Our mother has told us that it is okay to be sad, it’s okay to cry but we are not allowed to unpack our bags and live there. The worst thing you can do is forget and I never want to forget.’’
Photographs of Jordan are scattered throughout the Voudouris children’s homes. Each year they celebrate Father’s Day and Easter but instead of laughing and eating with their ‘Papa’, they visit his grave.
They tend to the olive tree planted in his memory and place fresh flowers in the grave garden. On the concrete, they write messages in chalk.
At Christmas, a stocking hangs in his memory. ‘‘We write a happy memory of him and put it in his stocking and over the years we look back and read those memories,’’ Richmond says. ‘‘With every high there is an element of sadness.’’
One day someone will talk, they say.
‘‘We think it hasn’t been solved because there’s not enough evidence, not enough people talking about it.’’
And they have a message for whoever stole their Papa away.
‘‘How do you live with yourself? Are you that cold hearted? Or maybe you have a conscience and can’t live with the guilt anymore. Turn yourself in. You can’t hide forever.’’
Anderson is hopeful that as time passes and people’s loyalties change, those that carry the burden of Voudouris’ death will come forward.
‘‘Those responsible may have differing views on what occurred. Those they have confided in may finally realise that their silence only aggravates the grief suffered by Jordan’s family, and that the family should be offered some explanations for the loss of Jordan.
‘‘It may well be that the person or persons responsible will finally obtain the courage to stand up and accept responsibility for their actions, although I am realistic that for some, concealment of their guilt outweighs their moral obligation to take responsibility for their own actions.’’
Anyone with information on the investigation is asked to contact Detective Glenn Ewing from Waihi Police on (07) 863 9365. Alternatively, information can also be provided anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.