Evangelos Goussis

Early life

Goussis was born in Tashkent, in the former Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic, of the USSR to a family of Greek immigrants in Uzbekistan.

Ange Goussis' father, Aristides Goussis, had been a resistance fighter against the Nazis during World War II for Greece, and was a pro-Soviet guerilla in the brutal Greek Civil War of the late 1940s. In 1949, following the Right-Wing's victory against the communist guerillas in Greece, Aristides and his wife, Mahi, a Red Cross child-care worker, fled to Uzbekistan.

Ange Goussis arrived in Australia at the age of 8. After leaving school, Goussis held various jobs such as an apprentice motor mechanic, a sheet metal worker, fitness consultant and nightclub bouncer.

In November 1989, Goussis was convicted of attempted murder and trafficking in heroin and sentenced to a term of imprisonment.

During his early twenties, Goussis drifted into a life of crime after meeting many criminal associates via his employment as a bouncer and via boxing. In March 2004, Goussis was convicted of carrying an unregistered firearm.

Boxing and kickboxing career

As a boxer, Goussis won the inaugural Lionel Rose Shield. By 1987, he was a contender for the 1988 Summer Olympics to be held in Seoul; however did not qualify.

In the early 1990s, Goussis competed in kickboxing. Goussis became the (WKA) World Kickboxing Association middleweight champion.

Evangelos Goussis' name stands alongside many other Greek kickboxing greats such as former world champions, Stan 'The Man' Longinidis and Tosca Petridis, Louie 'The Ice' Iosifidis, and current world champion 'Iron' Mike Zambidis and others.

Ange Goussis went eventually back to boxing however, training with Keith Ellis. He had three professional fights, TKO-ing Shane Wirth in 39 seconds in March 1995 and drawing with Ricky Jackson two weeks later. In October 1997, at Bondi, he stopped Adam Turner in the first round.

Murder of Lewis Caine

Lewis Caine (also known as Sean Vincent) was an underworld figure based in Melbourne, Victoria, and boyfriend of lawyer Zarah Garde-Wilson. Caine had lived with Garde-Wilson for a period of approximately two years before his death.

On 8 May 2004 Goussis and associate Keith Faure travelled to Melbourne from Geelong to meet with Caine in a Carlton hotel at the invitation of Faure. The body of Caine was found with a single gunshot wound to his head in a dead-end Brunswick street on 8 May 2004.

At his trial for the murder of Caine, Goussis claimed self-defence, stating Caine produced a gun and fired at him however the gun jammed. Goussis stated he then shot Caine to the head with a single shot before dumping his body in the laneway.

Goussis was found guilty by a jury for the murder of Lewis Caine.

Murder of Lewis Moran

Masked gunmen entered the Brunswick Club on Sydney Road, Brunswick at approximately 6.40pm on 31 March 2004. Moran ran from his place at the bar and through a poker machine room before the gunman caught up with him and shot him twice, the fatal bullet being fired into the back of his head from a few centimetres away.

Associate Bertie Wrout was severely wounded but survived the attack. On 29 May 2008, Goussis was found guilty of the murder of Lewis Moran and on 9 February 2009, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum 30 years non-parole period.

Murder of Shane Chartres-Abbott

Goussis is under investigation for the 2003 murder of male prostitute Shane Chartres-Abbott who was shot dead in a professional hit outside his Reservoir home on 4 June 2003 as he was travelling to the Melbourne County Court where he was due to appear to face Rape charges.

On 8 July 2014, the Victorian Supreme Court Jury found that Goussis and two other co-accused were found not-guilty for the murder of Chartres-Abbott.

Evidenciary concerns

Growing disquiet has emerged regarding the nature of the evidence used to secure Goussis's convictions. In 2013 it was revealed that contradictory accounts by the primary prosecution witness had been rewritten to fit in with telephone call records provided by police. In 2014, Goussis released his account of events, alleging police misconduct, and calling for a royal Commission.