Uzbek born Greek-Australian Evangelos Goussis has been found not guilty for the murder of vampire gigolo Shane Chartres-Abbott.
Goussis, 46, and his co-accused Mark Perry, 46, and Warren Shea, 42, were cleared by the jury after four days of deliberations.
Prosecutors were pushing for a finding of murder, or the alternative charge of manslaughter.
Shane Chartres-Abbott, a self-proclaimed vampire gigolo, was shot dead outside his Reservoir home, in Melbourne’s north, in 2003.
The prosecution relied on a statement by the triggerman (who cannot be named for legal purposes) who shot dead Chartres-Abbott, and then turned on the three men.
It claimed that the killing was committed as revenge for the rape and torture of Perry’s former girlfriend, who was a Thai stripper that had paid Chartres-Abbott for sex.
It was alleged that Goussis accompanied the triggerman on the night of the killing.
All three men pleaded not guilty to and claimed to have been set up by the self-confessed triggerman.
Chartres-Abbott’s home address was allegedly disclosed to the hit man by corrupt police who were never charged.
Source: Herald Sun