AGE ARTICLE ILLUSTRATES HOW KNOWING TOO MUCH CAN BE HARMFUL TO YOUR HEALTH

Tape could 'bring down' NSW Government
KATE MCCLYMONT AND VANDA CARSON
September 5, 2009

SYDNEY property developer and loan shark Michael McGurk may have been killed because he was in possession of a tape that had potential to bring down the NSW Government.

The audio tape is understood to contain revelations about the bribing of senior government figures.

Controversial Sydney businessman Jim Byrnes told The Age the tape recording contained ''really, really dangerous information''.

Several weeks ago, he had advised Mr McGurk to release it.

''It could bring down the State Government,'' Mr Byrnes said. ''I wouldn't want that information because I know the pain it brings with it. [The tape was as if ] someone was holding something over your head which could strip you of everything you owned and could see you wearing orange overalls for the rest of your life.''

The Age independently confirmed the existence of the tape with Mr McGurk in July.

Police said yesterday they had identified a number of people with a motive to kill the developer, who was gunned down in front of his nine-year-old son in Cranbrook Avenue, Cremorne, on Sydney's lower North Shore, on Thursday.

Mr McGurk, a father of four, was due to appear before Justice David Hammerschlag in the NSW Supreme Court yesterday in relation to caveats he had placed over properties owned by brothers Ben and Adam Tilley.

Mr McGurk had been facing assault charges and two charges of firebombing houses, one of which was that of Adam Tilley in Point Piper. But the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions dropped the charges a fortnight ago.

Police said Mr McGurk died as a result of a single bullet to the head while his son Luke sat in the passenger seat of his Mercedes-Benz saloon. The boy is the only witness known to have seen the killing.

Police want to interview 40 people who had commercial dealings with Mr McGurk. They spoke with a number of his associates yesterday and were seeking an interview with millionaire property developer Ron Medich, who denied any knowledge of the murderer.

The grey-haired Mr Medich cut a sharp figure in black sweater, black trousers and rimless glasses as he drove down Norton Street, Leichhardt, for a lunch appointment yesterday in his black Mercedes-Benz E500.

As he emerged from his car, The Age asked if he knew who murdered Michael McGurk.

''How would I know? Christ almighty! You people are low-life. You've upset me, you've upset my wife. Now, f--- off,'' Mr Medich said.

One of Mr Medich's lunch companions came out to deliver a statement to waiting media. It read: ''Recently, Mr Medich has been a party to proceedings relating to commercial matters in which Michael McGurk was also a party. Approximately three weeks ago, a significant part of one of those proceedings was settled amicably. Mr McGurk's murder is tragic and Mr Medich's sympathy goes out to his wife and children. Mr Medich has no further comment to make.''

With JONATHAN DART and DAMIEN MURPHY