Ljubomir Magaš

Early life

Born to a Croatian father, Šime Magaš, from Nin and a Serbian mother, Rosa Ćurčić, Ljubomir spent his early youth in the Belgrade neighbourhood of Zemun. At age six, his father abandoned the family. He stayed out of trouble for the most part while living in Zemun, but after his mother moved the family across town to the Zvezdara neighborhood in his pre-teens, he took up boxing and streetfighting at Radnički boxing club.

His nickname "Ljuba Zemunac" ("Ljuba from Zemun") came from his original neighborhood. After finishing primary school he attended a trade school for auto-repair, but never finished it. For a short time he worked at the IMT tractor factory in Dobanovci. In addition to street fights, he started making threats and vandalism. The police become aware of him for the first time in 1964 due to a purse snatching incident.

1960s: Early days in Belgrade

For a 1965 robbery, 17-year-old Magaš was sentenced by the Belgrade district court and referred to an institution for juvenile offenders. A year later he repeated the offence and got sentenced again, this time by the district court in the Serbian city of Niš.

Violent by nature, Magaš continued brawling in public. One such fight broke out in 1967 at University of Belgrade's Faculty of Technology when Magaš beat up Vladimir Vučković, another student. Afraid of arrest, Magaš escaped abroad for the first time—briefly crossing into Austria. He built a reputation as a tough, vicious, aggressive, controlling and vindictive criminal. Many feared him and sought his company and approval, but even that was no guarantee of protection as he often turned on those close to him.

In fall 1967, together with Rade "Ćenta" Ćaldović and Zoran "Robija" Milosavljević, 19-year-old Magaš was sentenced for rape to 2 years and 8 months in Sremska Mitrovica penitentiary. Ćenta and Robija got off due to lack of concrete evidence. During his prison stays Magaš established himself as a leader, regularly harassing, abusing and humiliating other inmates. One anecdote had Magaš forcing his fellow inmates to chew over hardened bread so that he could make chess figures. In his youth, he held pro-Yugoslav political leanings.

1970s: Italy and Germany

Magaš resumed his criminal activity upon his release in summer 1970. In March 1971 he escaped to Italy with an associate nicknamed Dača to avoid arrest over a car theft. Magaš's friend Ćenta joined him. Magaš settled in Milan, the gathering point Yugoslav fugitives. His viciousness during armed robberies got him the attention of Italian police, who exiled him to Germany.

In Germany Magaš was not well-known. However, his physical strength, bear-like appearance, psychotic energy and thuggish ways quickly distinguished him. He settled in Offenbach am Main, essentially a suburb of Frankfurt, where the Yugoslav mafia operated out of a cafe called Žurnal. They frequented establishments in Frankfurt such as Jukebox Jumbo Jet cafe. At first Magaš worked as bouncer, however, using the alias Tomislav Spadijer, he assembled a group of criminals specializing in armed robberies and racketeering. This was the beginning of his criminal heyday - through fear and intimidation he led a group of associates that enabled him to secure a steady, although illegal, income stream. He trafficked young girls from Belgrade and other parts of Serbia to Germany and forced them into prostitution.

In June 1974, Magaš was arrested for extortion, threats and physical assault against a man who refused to pay the racket. Around this time Magaš was wanted in Yugoslavia for rape. In September 1974 Yugoslavia sought his extradition. German authorities refused the request in December. Yugoslavia submitted another request, while Magaš was arrested in Frankfurt again in May 1975 for using falsified identification documents, robbery and driving without a licence. In September his extradition to Yugoslavia was approved. Magaš was sentenced to 4 and a half years.

In fall 1978, Magaš committed another rape and fled to Frankfurt where he lived as Giovanni Angelis. On 27 October 1978, Magaš was suspected of taking part in the murder of Veljko Krivokapić aka Velja Crnogorac. Apparently, Crnogorac had a row with Ćenta over gambling debts, which Ćenta settled by killing Velja with the help of Magaš and Jusuf "Jusa" Bulić.

While Magaš operated in Frankfurt, Ćenta did the same in Stuttgart. Other established Yugoslavia criminals such as Đorđe Božović aka Giška and Željko Ražnatović aka Arkan kept in touch with Magaš, especially when crimes were afoot. According to journalist sources, in the 1970s, Magaš started working with Yugoslav State Security (UDBA).

1980s

In January 1980, an international arrest warrant got issued in connection to the 1978 Budva rape charge. Acting upon the international warrant, West German authorities arrested Magaš, extraditing him to Yugoslavia on 20 February 1981. After standing trial before the Titograd district court, he got sentenced to 5 years. On appeal, the case went to the Yugoslav Supreme Court, which ordered a re-trial. In October 1982 having already served 20 months, Magaš was granted bail. He ended up returning to West Germany and crime.

In 1983, Magaš was among some twenty individuals that got arrested on extortion, blackmail and armed robbery charges, part of a sweeping action by the West German police. The police case against Magaš proved weak; instead of putting him away, it only managed to embolden rival Yugoslav gangsters within Frankfurt's underworld seeking to challenge Magaš's rule over the city. One candidate was twenty-something hustler and thug Goran Vuković. He began committing crimes independently such as robbing a jewelry shop without Magaš's permission.

Magaš found out and in January 1985 Magaš and his associates Slobodan "Cane" Savić and Vlada Bačar attempted to kill Vuković and his friend Boris Petkov. Vuković was wounded by Savić. German police arrested Magaš, but he was acquitted due to lack of evidence. Magaš used his influence around Yugoslav emigre circles to obtain favourable witness testimonies and reportedly even got football coach Fahrudin Jusufi to provide an alibi for his whereabouts on the night of the shooting.

On 10 November 1986, just before 10:30am, Magaš, Vuković and their respective entourages encountered one another in front of the court. Vuković pulled out a gun and shot Magaš twice in the chest. The German police arrested Vuković. Magaš succumbed to his injuries hours later.