Tycoon gets 39 years’ jail for ordering ‘hit’ on Scot
Son, 9, saw father shot in head by hired gunman outside home
A MILLIONAIRE property developer has been jailed for nearly 40 years for ordering the murder of a Scottish businessman.
Ron Medich arranged for his former business partner Michael McGurk to be shot dead outside his home in Sydney, Australia, after their relationship soured.
Mr McGurk, 45, originally from Glasgow’s Gorbals, was killed by a single bullet to the head as he got out of his Mercedes outside his home in the exclusive Cremorne district in September 2009. The shooting was witnessed by his nine-year-old son.
Medich had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr McGurk and the subsequent intimidation of his widow, Kimberley, on August 8, 2010, but was found guilty after a two-month trial at the New South Wales Supreme Court.
The 70-year-old, who paid more than £270,000 to have the hit carried out, has been handed a maximum sentence of 39 years and told he cannot apply for parole until 2048.
Justice Geoffrey Bellew said: ‘Directing and financing the killing of another human being is a fundamentally abhorrent and heinous crime. The offender treated the life of Mr McGurk as being of no value at all, something he could simply dispose of when he thought it was in his way.
‘It has had a catastrophic impact on the family and it would not be overstating to say their lives will never be the same.’
After Medich’s conviction Mrs McGurk, who was threatened at her home following her husband’s murder, said it was a ‘great day for justice and the jury system of New South Wales’. She added: ‘The damage to my family will never be repaired but the result today will allow my family to move forward.’
Crown prosecutor Sharon Harris told the jury Mr McGurk and Medich had once been involved in multi-million dollar business partnerships including property developments and financing.
But by 2009 their relationship had become ‘extremely hostile’.
Miss Harris said: ‘The two men had a number of court cases against each other, in the Federal and Supreme courts, both claiming they had been ripped off by the other, each claiming they were owed millions of dollars. These disputes were a significant motive for the accused to direct the murder of the deceased in 2009 and intimidation of his wife in 2010.’
The court heard one such feud erupted when Medich discovered that the real cost of two development sites which he had given Mr McGurk £3.5million to purchase was in fact half that amount.
The court was told Medich had developed a hatred for Mr McGurk and turned to his close friend Fortunato ‘Lucky’ Gattellari to ‘permanently resolve’ the disputes by organising his murder. Former boxing champion Gattellari has been jailed over his involvement and received a discounted sentence after agreeing to give evidence against his co-accused.
Haissam Safetli, 51, who is thought to have fired the fatal shot, is serving a seven-year sentence for his role in the murder.
His accomplice, Christopher Estephan, 27, who was present when Mr McGurk was shot, was jailed for four-and-a-half years.
Mr McGurk, who emigrated to Australia in the early 1990s, lived in Sydney with his wife and their children – Lachlan, Mia, Nicola and Luc.