Wealthy Australia developer guilty of ex-business partner's murder

[SYDNEY] A millionaire property developer was found guilty Monday of ordering the murder of his former business associate, who was gunned down in front of his young son outside their Sydney home almost a decade ago.

Scottish-born property tycoon Michael McGurk, 45, was shot in the head by a lone gunman as he stepped from his Mercedes in the harbourside suburb of Cremorne in 2009.

His former associate Ron Medich was arrested and charged the following year, and had pleaded not guilty to directing the killing of McGurk and later intimidating his wife.

Medich, now 70, went on trial last year but a jury failed to reach a verdict in the high-profile case.

A second trial kicked off at the New South Wales Supreme Court in January, with a jury finding him guilty of both crimes.

Medich had been on bail and was taken into custody after the verdict was announced, a court official told AFP, adding that his jail sentence would be determined following a later hearing.

Four other men have already been jailed for their roles in the shooting.

Crown prosecutor Sharon Harris told the court McGurk and Medich were involved in multi-million-dollar property and financing partnerships, but had turned against each other by early 2009, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

McGurk made international headlines in 2007 when he unsuccessfully tried to sue the Sultan of Brunei over an alleged US$8 million agreement to buy a 400-year-old gold-lined miniature Koran.

AFP