Gargasoulas found guilty of murdering six in 2017 Bourke St massacre

One minute was all it took for James Gargasoulas to inflict a trail of destruction and horror along Bourke Street on January 20 last year.

Less than one hour was all it took on Tuesday for a Supreme Court jury of seven women and five men to find him criminally responsible.

In the 22 months in between, Bourke Street survivors and the families of 33 pedestrians mowed down by a stolen maroon Holden Commodore quietly waited as Gargasoulas fronted a series of court hearings, including two which focused on his fitness to stand trial. The second of those, last month, found he was.

After all the waiting, some family members on Tuesday wiped away tears as the jury foreman said "guilty" 33 times before a packed court, finding proven the six charges of murder and 27 counts of
reckless conduct endangering life.

Gargasoulas, 28, who pleaded not guilty but did not offer a legal defence, didn't react, having yawned five minutes before the jury came in.

The verdicts came four days after restaurant owner Sisto Malaspina was killed and two men were injured in an unrelated attack in Bourke Street.

Gargasoulas' short trial was told he turned west into Bourke from Swanston shortly after 1.30pm on January 20 last year and continued hitting pedestrians until police rammed his car near the corner of
Bourke and William streets.

Those killed were Yosuke Kanno, 25, Bhavita Patel, 33, Jessica Mudie, 22, Matthew Si, 33, three-month-old Zachary Matthew-Bryant and 10-year-old Thalia Hakin, whose mother and sister were injured.

James Gargasoulas arriving at court last week.Credit: Justin McManus

Two other children were among the 27 people injured, along with an 85-year-old woman and a pregnant woman, whose baby was unharmed.

Genna Angelowitsch, a lawyer representing the families of five of the people killed, said they were grateful to the jury for its verdict and the community for its ongoing support.

The speed with which the jury reached its decision, Ms Angelowitsch said, "reflects the fact that this wasn't a tragic accident".

Gargasoulas drives in circles outside Flinders Street Station shortly before the Bourke Street massacre.Credit: Urban Desi

"This was an intentional and callous act by Mr Gargasoulas that has stolen six innocent people from the people who loved them and endangered the lives of 27 other people," she said.

But despite the quick trial and deliberations, the families must wait again.

After the verdicts, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Kerri Judd, QC, said it was everyone's preference for Gargasoulas to be sentenced this year.

But Justice Mark Weinberg's coming leave and the court schedule means a three-day pre-sentence hearing cannot start until January 29, which will extend the case into its third year.

A police officer talks with Gargasoulas after the rampage.Credit: Leigh Henningham

Gargasoulas faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life in custody, but won't be sentenced until February at the earliest.

Police spent the morning of January 20 last year tracking Gargasoulas after he stabbed his brother Angelo, the trial heard.

One detective desperately sent text messages in the minutes before the tragedy to try to persuade him to surrender. But Gargasoulas replied: "I'm one man and you need an army."

Gargasoulas used the drug ice in the month before the murders and delusional and in a drug-induced psychosis when he was driving. But his lawyers did not use mental impairment as a defence in his trial.

Gargasoulas gave evidence on Monday in which he apologised and rambled about a comet hitting Earth, the Illuminati, upholding God’s law and government oppression, and referenced last week’s Bourke Street attack and the day a car was driven into pedestrians in Flinders Street last year.

Ms Judd told the jury the massacre was "the clearest case of criminal liability that you will ever come across".

Defence counsel Theo Alexander didn't challenge the prosecution case and couldn't say much else other than thank the jurors for their attention.

A sketch of James Gargasoulas in courtCredit: Paul Tyquin/AAP