SEVENTEEN months after Michael McGurk was killed by hired gunmen outside his Sydney home, the man police believe may have provided the cash for the hit was slain in nearly identical circumstances in Melbourne.
There was one common factor: Ron Medich.
A jury’s finding this week that the millionaire property developer ordered McGurk’s murder in a fit of pique over deals gone bad has raised questions over the unsolved murder of racing identity Les Samba.
Medich has never been charged in relation to Samba’s death, and has denied involvement, but remains a person of interest.
A Sydney court was told Samba, who owned at least a dozen horses with Medich as well as having deep ties to the underworld, supplied some of the $500,000 cash Medich used to order the killing of McGurk in September 2009.
“Samba would have been a pivotal witness in the McGurk investigation,” a senior detective told The Daily Telegraph.
“He could have been the link between the money and Medich.
“His death certainly didn’t hurt Medich.”
Instead, he was found dead on Melbourne’s Beaconsfield Parade in February 2011 with several gunshots into his head and back.
Police believe two hitmen were involved.
Four months earlier, in October 2010, Medich was arrested for ordering McGurk’s slaying after his co-conspirators, including formerly trusted sideman Fortunato “Lucky” Gattellari, turned on him and began giving evidence to police.
Gattellari, now serving time for his role in McGurk’s killing, rolled over on Medich after the businessman refused his request to pay $1 million toward his legal fees.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal that in the lead-up to his death Samba was ordered to appear at the powerful and secretive NSW Crime Commission to answer questions about the McGurk murder.
Medich’s committal hearing was told in 2013 that ex-boxer Gattellari told his boss in July 2009 it would cost anywhere from $300,000 to $500,000 to have McGurk killed.
Medich told Gattellari he would get the money from Samba, the court was told.
Another witness, Matthew Crockett, who the court heard worked for Gattellari as a standover man collecting money and making threats, said he had been told Samba owed Medich money.
Sydney-based Samba, a father of two originally from Adelaide, was a common figure on the racing circuit around Australia, though he had been banned in Victoria and investigated by racing authorities in WA.
MORE
ANNA CALDWELL: Labor hoped to keep Ron Medich’s money
RON MEDICH: Guilty of Michael McGurk’s 2009 execution
RON MEDICH: Millionaire murderer’s lavish lifestyle gone
RON MEDICH: Tracking bracelet set off at Chinese massage parlour
RON MEDICH: Millionaire could get $23 a week doing laundry
Medich was also a regular on the circuit, and the pair were pictured together at the races in Sydney in 2009.
Two months before McGurk was killed, police believe Samba used a false driver’s licence as ID to fly to Perth to get the money for Medich.
The source of the money is not known. Medich and Samba were also reportedly in New Zealand together to sell a horse the week before McGurk was killed.
The connections between Medich and Samba were investigated by Victorian police.
Medich was one of at least six people Melbourne police investigating the killing flew to Sydney to interview. Medich denied any involvement.
It was just one of several theories police were working on.
Victorian police said they investigated allegations Samba owed $200,000 to a NSW-based crime syndicate. In 2015, they also few to Perth to interview 18 people.
Police also questioned and searched the home of trainer John Nikolic, whose brother, jockey Danny Nikolic, is the ex-husband of Samba’s daughter, Victoria.
Samba left the Crown Metropol hotel and reportedly drove to Danny Nikolic’s pub less than an hour before he was killed.
Both John and Danny Nikolic have co-operated with police and consistently denied involvement in the death.
