Shane Chartres-Abbott death: Trio not guilty of murdering 'vampire gigolo'
Three men have been found not guilty of murdering self-described vampire gigolo Shane Chartres-Abbott more than a decade ago.
Warren Shea, Mark Perry and Evangelos Goussis were on trial for killing the 28-year-old prostitute in Melbourne in 2003, that sparked a decade-long police investigation and international manhunt.
Chartres-Abbott died after being shot outside his home in Reservoir on June 4, 2003, on the same day he was due in court on a charge of rape.
He was accused of leaving a woman lying unconscious in a South Yarra hotel room after raping her and biting off part of her tongue.
A career criminal who cannot be named had admitted to shooting dead Chartres-Abbott as a favour to an acquaintance.
But the prosecution argued the Perry, Shea and Goussis engaged in joint criminal enterprise because they all intended that the murder be committed.
In testimony, the court heard that just a few weeks before the killing, Shea told the unnamed witness that Chartres-Abbott had raped and maimed Perry's ex-girlfriend.
"I was told that [Chartres-Abbott] made a shocking mess of her, bit hunks out of her,'" the witness told the court.
"I was told quite a fair bit about that, and [Chartres-Abbott] raped her and left her for dead."
The witness also told the court he was asked by Shea if he knew anyone who "would be interested in... harming Chartres-Abbott".
"I definitely said I'd take care of it personally," the witness added.
The witness testified that he accepted no payment for the killing, calling it a "favour for a favour".
The witness gave evidence that the third defendant, Goussis was previously sent to prison for the murders of underworld figures Lewis Moran and Lewis Caine, drove him to Chartres-Abbott's house on the day of the killing.
The three defendants were also cleared of manslaughter.
original post found her http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-08/vampire-gigolo-death-not-guilty/5571654
No comments :
Post a Comment