murder of Megan Kalajzich

{{Infobox news event

|title = Murder of Megan Kalajzich

|image =

|image_name =

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|date = {{start date|df=y|1986|1|27}}

|time =

|place = 31 Fairlight Crescent,
Fairlight, New South Wales,
Australia

|coordinates = {{coord|-33.79962|151.272469|region:AU_type:event|display=inline,title}}

|also known as =

|cause = Gunshot

|participants =

|outcome =

|reported death(s) = Megan Kalajzich

|burial =

|inquiries =

|inquest =

|coroner =

|suspects = Andrew Kalajzich, Warren Elkins, Franciscus Wilhelmus Vandenberg, Kerry Orrock, George Canellis

|charges =

|verdict = All guilty except Canellis (granted immunity)

|convictions = Kalajzich (life)
Elkins (10 years; 5 years non-parole)
Vandenburg (life, committed suicide in prison)
Orrock (life)

|url =

|website =

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}}

Andrew Kalajzich was born in Australia in 1941, after his parents migrated from Yugoslavia in 1939. He grew up working in his family’s fish shop in Manly, and by the age of 25 he and his brother established their own business in Manly.

He married Megan Carmichael in 1962 and they had two children together, Michelle and Andrew.

In the following years Kalajzich became a well-respected and wealthy figure on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. He was elected the president of the Manly Chamber of Commerce in 1972, and opened the Manly Pacific International Hotel in 1983.{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/andrew-kalajzich-the-man-who-wanted-more-20111117-1nksv.html|title=Andrew Kalajzich: The man who wanted more|last=Brown|first=Malcolm|date=17 November 2011|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|language=en|access-date=2018-04-14}}

Just 16 days before Megan’s death she was attacked at her Fairlight home at gunpoint, however the gun failed to fire.

In the early morning of 27 January 1986, Megan Kalajzich was shot twice in the head as she slept beside her husband in their home. Two shots were also fired into Andrew Kalajzich’s pillow; he claims that he was able to roll out of the way of the bullets.{{Cite news|url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/family-support-wife-killer-andrew-kalajzich-on-verge-of-freedom/news-story/864a166d91f988bd18027a6fa027f816?sv=437c41898aa596da2dc644085f227399|title=Family support - wife-killer Andrew Kalajzich on verge of freedom|last=Morri|first=Mark|date=18 November 2011|work=The Daily Telegraph}}

In an 11-week trial at the NSW Supreme Court during early 1988, Andrew Kalajzich was found guilty of the murder of his wife. Evidence was provided that Mr Kalajzich had hired hitman Bill Vandenberg, paying him $20,000 to murder his wife.{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/former-millionaire-to-walk-free-25-years-after-wifes-contract-killing-20111117-1nl6g.html|title=Former millionaire to walk free 25 years after wife's contract killing|last=Ralston|first=Nick|date=18 November 2011|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|language=en|access-date=2018-04-14}} Therefore, Kalajzich was charged with murder, conspiring to murder, and for the discharge of a firearm with the intention of murder.{{Cite web|url=http://www.guides.sl.nsw.gov.au/c.php?g=671792&p=4729413|title=LIAC Crime Library: R v Kalajzich|date=21 September 2017|website=www.guides.sl.nsw.gov.au|language=en|access-date=2018-04-14}} Vandenberg was also charged, however he killed himself whilst in prison awaiting trial.

Kalajzich vigorously appealed the verdict, culminating in a 1995 judicial enquiry by John Slattery QC (retired Supreme Court Judge), who rejected Kalajzich's appeals, saying that he had "no doubts or questions about the guilt of the petitioner".{{Cite news|url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/kalajzich-returns-to-scene-of-the-crime/news-story/ec254cabaf8286c1936636dde4ad92a7?sv=93a491abb8e279eeeb21b79eeac4cc53|title=Andrew Kalajzich returns to scene of the crime|last=Aikman|first=Amos|date=9 February 2012|work=The Australian}}

Kalajzich and his children have continued to maintain that he is innocent of the charges. After serving 25 years in prison, it was announced on 25 January 2012 that Kalajzich would be released on parole.{{cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/kalajzich-to-walk-free-from-jail-in-a-fortnight-20120125-1qhth.html#ixzz1kWgrcXQJ |title=Kalajzich to walk free from jail in a fortnight |date=25 January 2012 |publisher=Smh.com.au |access-date=2012-01-26}} He was subsequently released on 8 February 2012.

The Megan Kalajzich murder was the focus of the Crime Investigation Australia episode "Contract to Kill".{{cite web|title=Contract to Kill |url=http://www.citv.com.au/microsite/CrimeInvestigationAustralia/episodes/ |publisher=Crime Investigation Australia |access-date=2009-07-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090710122103/http://www.citv.com.au/microsite/CrimeInvestigationAustralia/episodes/ |archive-date=10 July 2009 }}

There was also a book written about the Megan Kalajzich murder by Lindsay Simpson and Sandra Harvey in 1992, entitled My Husband, My Killer: The Murder of Megan Kalajzich.{{Cite book|title=My Husband, My Killer: The Murder of Megan Kalajzich|last=Harvey|first=Sandra|last2=Simpson|first2=Lindsay|publisher=Allen & Unwin|year=1992|isbn=1865085022|location=St. Leonards, N.S.W.|oclc=47823914}}

The book was translated into a television movie in 2001.

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book|last=Simpson|first=Lindsay|title=My Husband, My Killer|year=2001|publisher=Allen & Unwin|isbn=1865085022|author2=Harvey, Sandra}}, subsequently made into a telemovie starring Colin Friels in 2001.
• {{cite web | title= My Husband My Killer (2001)| url = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0256215/ | publisher = IMDB| access-date = 2009-07-05}}

• {{cite book|last=Kay|first=Pippa|title=Doubt and conviction : the Kalajzich inquiry|year=2002|publisher=Self-published|isbn=0646418068}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalajzich, Megan}}

Category:Murder in Sydney

Category:People murdered in Sydney

Category:Australian people convicted of murder

Category:1980s in Sydney

Category:1986 murders in Australia

Category:Women in Sydney