Contract killer Ron Medich is dubbed the ‘Lithgow Loner’ and refuses to talk to prison officers

He once wined and dined Sydney's elite but now former property developer Ron Medich is resigned to die in his prison cell, refusing to talk to officers or exercise in his backyard at Lithgow jail.

Ron Medich — the millionair murderer — turned 77 in jail, where he’s known as the “Lithgow Loner”. Pictures: News Corp

Millionaire murderer Ron Medich is a recluse dubbed “The Lithgow Loner” for spending the bulk of his time locked in a tiny prison cell.

The ailing former property tycoon, who turned 77 last week, is nicknamed “the loner” for refusing to talk to officers preferring to sulk alone in his 3 metre by 2 metre cell at the high security prison where he will likely die.

He has become increasingly withdrawn, insiders say, after the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal rejected his bid to have his sentence overturned for ordering the contract killing of his business rival Michael McGurk, 45, and the subsequent intimidation of Mr McGurk’s widow, Kimberley, four years ago.

The St Joseph’s College alumnus was sentenced to 30 years’ in 2018 when a jury found him guilty of organising a hit man who shot McGurk dead with a single bullet to the head sometime between 6:30pm and 6:45pm on September 3 2009.

“He keeps himself to himself, he’s very isolated, he rarely even wanders into his private yard to exercise, he sits in his cell and eats in it alone all day,” a source said.

Ex millionaire property developer Ron Medich was found guilty of the contract killing of business foe Michael McGurk and is now spends the bulk of his time in his 3 3 x 2 prison cell at Lithgow jail. Picture: Brendan Esposito

“He doesn’t have a job inside, he looks desperately lonely, he won’t talk to officers, you just see him shuffling around occasionally, he’s just old and polite.”

Medich is effectively unemployed in jail. No jobs have been offered to him due to him being isolated from the prison population.

It is not known if his Lithuanian-born taxation lawyer ex wife Odetta, who now lives in the Cote d’Azur in the South of France, has ever visited him.

Millionaire Ron Medich is unemployed in jail and has refused to talk to officers since the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal rejected his bid to have his sentence overturned for the contract killing of his business rival Michael McGurk, 45, and the subsequent intimidation of Mr McGurk’s widow four years ago. Picture: Jenny Evans

The court heard how the pair’s marriage broke down in 2010 and how Medich arranged for his driver and confidant Fortunato “Lucky” Gattellari to follow her from their Point Piper home at the height of their problems.

Medich was jailed in 2018 for directing the execution-style murder of his business enemy who was assassinated in front on his nine-year-old son outside their Cremorne home on Sydney’s lower north shore in September 2009.

Homicide Squad detectives conducted a re-creation of crime scene on Cranbrook Avenue, Cremorne in Sydney, where businessman Michael McGurk was executed as he sat in his Mercedes outside his home on September 3 2009.

The loan shark was blasted as he sat his car and was returning to his Cremorne home with a takeaway.

His then nine-year-old son was in the car too.

During the initial trial the court heard he ordered McGurk’s shooting when they had become embroiled in costly legal disputes leaving Medich convinced he had become the “the laughing stock of the eastern suburbs” for owing McGurk millions of dollars.

The court heard fuming Medich told his confidant Lucky Gattellari, a former Australian featherweight boxing champion, “I want him done.”

The jury for Ron Medich’s trial was shown exhibit photos from the crime scene of the murder of Michael McGurk. Supplied

NSW Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey Bellew described the murder as an “abhorrent and heinous” crime before jailing Medich for 39 years with a non-parole period of 30 years.

He will be eligible for parole on February 26, 2048, when will be almost 100.

Gattellari told the court Medich, the son of Croatian immigrants, was the “big boss” who masterminded and financed the shooting of his rival for an estimated $500,000.

The former wife of Ron Medich Odetta Medich now lives in Beaulieu Sur Mer on the French Riviera. Picture: Franck Bessiere

He was sentenced in May 2013 to at least seven years and six months in jail after he confessed to organising the murder and for helping authorities with their inquiries, for which he received a 60 per cent discount on his sentence.

His unfettered collaboration with the police prompted detective inspector Mick Sheehy to say he had never seen such extensive information from one person in his three decades in the force.

Medich lost an appeal to have his conviction overturned four years ago.

Scottish-born businessman Michael McGurk was executed as he sat in his outside his home in Cremorne in September 2009. His then nine-year-old son was in the car too.

Justice Peter Hamill said he would have allowed the appeal against conviction and ordered a retrial.

Court of Appeal justice Cliff Hoeben said at the time it was a two-to-one decision to reject Medich’s appeal.

Medich is the sixth man to be sentenced over the murder.

He will be eligible for parole on February 26, 2048.

Fortunato "Lucky" Gattellari told the court Medich told him court heard fuming Medich told him, “I want him done.” Picture: David Moir

Originally published as Contract killer Ron Medich is dubbed the ‘Lithgow Loner’ and refuses to talk to prison officers