Four men charged over McGurk murder

More than a year after businessman Michael McGurk was shot dead outside his Sydney
home, four men - including those described as "principals" - have been charged in
connection with his murder.
Extensive homicide investigations including a ballistics re-enactment culminated in
the arrests on Wednesday and subsequent raids of seven properties.
One of the men, 45-year-old Haissam Safetli, faced Parramatta Local Court on
Wednesday afternoon charged with Mr McGurk's murder along with a second charge of
"solicit, encourage, persuade, etc, to murder".
He did not apply for bail, which was formally refused, and is expected to return to
court at a date to be fixed.
"He's holding up well with regard to the offences but he's in no position to make
any comment through me to the media today," Safetli's lawyer Dennis Morales told
Fairfax Radio Network outside the court.
Safetli, from Elderslie, was arrested at Chipping Norton along with a 42-year-old
man from Liverpool and a 60-year-old from Chipping Norton.
The older man has been charged with soliciting Mr McGurk's murder and being an
accessary after the fact to the offence, while the other man was charged with being
an accessary before and after the murder.
Both were refused bail and are due to face court on Thursday.
A 20-year-old man from Harrington Park has also been arrested and charged with Mr
McGurk's murder and is due to face Sydney's Central Local Court on Thursday.
"There is certainly further charges which are anticipated but at this stage we
believe we have the principals in this offence," homicide squad Inspector Mick
Sheehy told reporters.
Mr McGurk was shot as he got out of his Mercedes-Benz outside his Cranbrook Avenue
home at Cremorne on Sydney's lower north shore on September 3, 2009.
It is understood his 10-year-old son witnessed the shooting.
"There is simply one shot which has been fired, which was a fatal shot sustained by
Michael McGurk. There is clear evidence that there were two people present at the
time," Insp Sheehy said.
Of the motive to murder, Insp Sheehy said it "is clearly some financial and business
transactions".
Since his death, Mr McGurk has been linked to an alleged $150 million mortgage fraud
racket involving hundreds of Sydney homes.
Insp Sheehy said a number of weapons were seized during the raids and will undergo
forensic testing.
In January this year investigators returned to the scene of the shooting in the
quiet upper-class street, staging a complex re-enactment using lasers to show
possible bullet trajectories.