Shocking video emerges of assassination of John Macris in Greece
A GREEK newspaper has published the dramatic moment an assassin killed infamous Sydney crime figure John Macris.
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SHOCKING footage of what appears to be John Macris’s assassination in Greece has been published.
Athens newspaper Kathimerini published CCTV footage showing the last moments of the notorious Sydney gangster, who was gunned down in a seaside suburb in the Greek capital city on October 31.
In the video, a man dressed in grey and black is seen running towards a black car while firing shots into the vehicle.
The publication chose only to publish parts of the footage but explained that Mr Macris had just got into his car when the shooter approached.
After being hit, Mr Macris emerged from the car and tried to escape but the assassin followed him and kept shooting.
Police say Mr Macris was shot four times with a 9mm handgun and died at the scene. He was leaving his home in Voula last Wednesday evening when he was shot.
Authorities are looking at the businessman’s activities in Greece to try and find a motive for the killing and to identify the assassin.
Family and friends of the 46-year-old Greek-Australian mourned his death at a church service this week.
His wife, reality TV star Viktoria Karida, with who he had two children, was seen sobbing as she was escorted up the church steps towards the low-key Greek Orthodox ceremony in Voula.
Police were investigating whether his death was related to his potential involvement in the drug trade or in organised crime. Authorities say he had run-ins with police in the past, both in Australia and in Greece.
Mr Macris was once the target of an alleged murder plot in Sydney.
Macris had been involved in Sydney’s organised crime scene. In Athens, he appeared as a businessman and reportedly owned a security company.
A warrant for Macris’s arrest had been issued in Australia’s New South Wales state for failing to attend court for sentencing on a conviction for driving while his license was cancelled, a statement from the state government said. Police did not say when the warrant had been issued.
Media reports say Macris relocated to Greece to avoid the warrant. The police media unit could not immediately comment on whether any potential Sydney link was being investigated in relation to the crime in Athens. But police sources told Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph newspaper that Macris’s death was unlikely to have Sydney connections.
Macris had a feud with the family of high-profile Sydney nightclub owner John Ibrahim over a nightclub business partnership.
Two of Ibrahim’s brothers, Fadi and Michael, were charged with conspiring to murder Macris in 2009.
Police alleged the brothers mistakenly believed Macris was behind the near-fatal shooting of Fadi in 2009. Fadi was shot five times as he sat in his Lamborghini outside his Sydney home. No one has ever been charged.
A jury in 2013 acquitted Michael and another man Rodney Atkinson of conspiracy to murder. Prosecutors later dropped the same charge against Fadi. The arrests were made before the alleged plot targeting Macris was executed.
Sydney criminal lawyer Brett Galloway described Mr Macris in Sydney as a small-time drug dealer with aspirations to become a big-time gangster.
Mr Galloway said he represented Mr Macris in court about a dozen times, mostly on charges relating to modest quantities of illicit drugs.
“He was a nondescript sort of dude who wanted to be a gangster,” Mr Galloway said. “He wasn’t a big criminal. He wasn’t well known like some of the hoods around town,” he added.
Mr Macris’s life of crime did not appear to be a financial success, the lawyer said.
“I wouldn’t call Johnnie a generous man with his money,” Mr Galloway said. “If you want to be a gangster, someone takes your spot eventually. That’s how it goes.”
- With AAP
Originally published as Shocking video emerges of assassination of John Macris in Greece