The unofficial king of Manly in the 1980s, Andrew Kalajzich, had a seemingly perfect life. But there was a question that had Sydney divided: was he a grieving husband or a murder-for-hire mastermind?
Kalajzich was a successful hotel owner and well-respected community leader in Sydney during the 1980s.
But behind closed doors, his marriage was crumbling, and things took a dark turn.
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In 1986, his wife Megan was found shot dead in their home.
That same year, Andrew Kalajzich was convicted of orchestrating the murder of his wife via a hitman. The court heard Andrew hired a hitman who tried not once – but six times to kill his wife.
During the first attempt, the hitman broke into Megan’s home as she was sleeping and tried to shoot her, but the weapon jammed.
Andrew was jailed for life in 1988 but his sentence was readjusted in 1997 to a minimum of 25 years under truth-in-sentencing legislation.
To this day, Andrew swears he’s innocent.
Both his and Megan’s family, including her late mother, May Carmichael, had always said it was a gross miscarriage of justice.
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