The murder of Melbourne underworld figure Athan Boursinos was meticulously planned with hitmen hired by a sophisticated NSW crime syndicate using multiple cars stolen months earlier to carry out the daylight execution.
Boursinos, the son of an ex-police officer, was shot dead in a laneway behind his family home in Wollert, in Melbourne’s outer north, shortly before he was due to attend Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court over drug, weapons and driving offences in July.
Athan Boursinos was gunned down in a laneway behind his family home in Wollert in July.
Detective Acting Superintendent Mark Hatt said investigators had not been able to pin down a motive for the killing, but police intelligence suggested a NSW crime syndicate was responsible for sanctioning the hit.
“We know that Athan was heavily connected to organised crime. We’re working through numerous avenues relating to his background and who he is connected with,” Hatt said on Friday.
“The murder was planned. The murder was targeted. And those responsible were guns for hire.”
As previously revealed by The Age, Boursinos was part of a street crew controlled by illicit tobacco mogul Kazem Hamad and his cousin, suspected drug trafficker Ahmed al-Hamza.
The 21-year-old was also a suspect in the assassination of notorious Melbourne underworld player Suleiman “Sam” Abdulrahim at a hotel in Preston in January.
Police have released CCTV footage of two men they believe were hired to kill Boursinos in the hope of identifying them.
