High Court dismisses trio's appeal over killing of suburban solicitor Keith Allan

A BID by three men to appeal their sentences for the murder of a solicitor whose body has never been found has been rejected.

THE High Court has rejected a bid by three men to appeal their jail sentences for the murder of a suburban solicitor whose body has never been found.

Sudo Cavkic, Costas Athanasi and Julian Michael Clarke were sentenced to lengthy jail terms in 2007 for murdering solicitor Keith Allan, 53.

The location of his body has remained a mystery since Mr Allan's disappearance in May 2000.

The trio received minimum jail terms of between 19 years and 23-and-a-half years after a jury convicted them in 2007 following a third trial.

They sought to appeal the convictions and sentences in the Court of Appeal on a number of grounds, arguing that the judge erred during the trial and their sentences were excessive, but were refused.

Today, the trio took their case to the High Court in Melbourne, where their application for special leave to appeal the decision was rejected.

The jury had heard the murder was a contract killing conceived and planned by Clarke, who worked as a law clerk in Mr Allan's Avondale Heights office in Melbourne's west.

Clarke had misused Mr Allan's trust account and taken between $420,000 and $560,000 to fund his gambling lifestyle and that of his partner and another associate.

When Clarke realised his illegal activities would come to light, he devised a plan to have Mr Allan killed.

He procured Athanasi to recruit a killer and Cavkic was brought in to carry out the deed.

The murder probably occurred in the Mt Macedon region in central Victoria in May 2000, but Mr Allan's body was never found and it is not known exactly how he was killed.

Cavkic was jailed for at least 21-and-a-half years, Athanasi for a minimum of 19 years and Clarke for a minimum of 23-and-a-half years.

All had pleaded not guilty to the murder.

In sentencing the men, Supreme Court Justice John Coldrey said the killing fell into the worst category of murder.