Murder of Megan Kalajzich

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

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. Therefore, Kalajzich was charged with murder, conspiring to murder, and for the discharge of a firearm with the intention of murder. Vandenberg was also charged, however he killed himself whilst in prison awaiting trial. Kalajzich and his children have continued to maintain that he is innocent of the charges. He was subsequently released on 8 February 2012. == Media ==

The Megan Kalajzich murder was the focus of the Crime Investigation Australia episode "Contract to Kill". 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. The book was translated into a television movie in 2001. ==References==