Viktoria Karyda, wife, the wife of slain Greek Australian John Macris arrives at an Orthodox church to attend his funeral ceremony, at Voula suburb, south of Athens. Photo / AP
Viktoria Karyda, wife, the wife of slain Greek Australian John Macris arrives at an Orthodox church to attend his funeral ceremony, at Voula suburb, south of Athens. Photo / AP
Surrounded by black-clad security guards, those who knew John Macris well huddled together and looked distraught as they said their goodbyes at a clifftop church overnight.
The notorious Sydney gangster, who was gunned down in a seaside suburb of Athens, left behind two children and his wife, former playmate model and reality TV star Viktoria Karida, who could be seen sobbing uncontrollably as she was escorted up the church steps towards the low-key Greek Orthodox ceremony in Voula.
From the outside, it looked like the glamorous power couple had everything. They were even talking about having a third child before Macris was brutally gunned down outside the family's seaside home last week.
John Macris married Viktoria Karida in an intimate ceremony in 2016.
However, how much Ms Karida knew about her 46-year-old husband's underworld activities is unclear.
In Athens, he appeared as a businessman and reportedly owned a security company — but authorities say he had run-ins with police in both Australia and in Greece.
In her deposition to police investigating the slaying, Ms Karida told cops the couple "led a quiet life".
"He wasn't scared of anything. He hadn't told us of death threats he had received," she said in the interview, according to Greece's Ta Nea newspaper.
However, an Athens security officer, Stefanos Karafotias, told The Australian, Macris was still involved in big spending, money laundering and drugs operations in the Mykonos and southern Athens areas up until his death.
"It was almost overnight, he appeared with all this money, we thought who was this guy?'" he said of Macris when he suddenly launched high-profile security business, investing several hundred thousand euros to launch My Services.
His flamboyant spending stood out as the entire security industry was hit hard by the financial crisis.
It comes as Greek police investigate allegations of money laundering through the Macris' business.
Viktoria Karyda, center, the wife of slain Greek Australian John Macris arrives at an Orthodox church for his funeral ceremony, in Voula suburb, south of Athens. Photo / AP
Appearing to escape a life of drugs and organised crime a life in Australia, he arrived in Athens and rubbed shoulders with the city's most rich and famous people — regularly gracing the social pages and glossy magazines alongside his glamorous wife.
However, this all came to an end on Wednesday, when he was running late for the opening of a new office space for My Services.
He was ambushed outside his home as he got into his car.
Surveillance video reportedly shows a lone gunman, wearing a cap pulled low over his face, approach Macris at 8.10pm.
The gunman fired six shots, with four of them hitting Macris in the chest, stomach and shoulder. There are unconfirmed reports the shooter yelled "I'm going to finish him off" before fleeing.
A warrant for Macris's arrest had been issued in New South Wales state for failing to attend court for sentencing on a conviction for driving while his license was cancelled, a statement from the state government said. Police did not say when the warrant had been issued.
Media reports say Macris relocated to Greece to avoid the warrant. The police media unit could not immediately comment on whether any potential Sydney link was being investigated in relation to the crime in Athens.
But police sources told The Daily Telegraph that Macris's death was unlikely to have Sydney connections.
Macris became a notorious gangster in Australia. Photo / News Corp Australia
Ms Karida is a reality TV star in Greece. Photo / Facebook
Macris had a feud with the family of high-profile Sydney nightclub owner John Ibrahim over a nightclub business partnership. However, there is no suggestion the Ibrahims had anything to do with Macris' death and the feud was long over.
Two of Ibrahim's brothers, Fadi and Michael, were charged with conspiring to murder Macris in 2009.
Police alleged the brothers mistakenly believed Macris was behind the near-fatal shooting of Fadi in 2009. Fadi was shot five times as he sat in his Lamborghini outside his Sydney home. No one has ever been charged.
A jury in 2013 acquitted Michael and another man Rodney Atkinson of conspiracy to murder. Prosecutors later dropped the same charge against Fadi. The arrests were made before the alleged plot targeting Macris was executed.
Sydney criminal lawyer Brett Galloway described Macris in Sydney as a small-time drug dealer with aspirations to become a big-time gangster.
The coffin of slain Greek Australian John Macris is carried out of an Orthodox church after his funeral ceremony, at Voula suburb, south of Athens. Photo / AP
Mr Galloway said he represented Macris in court about a dozen times, mostly on charges relating to modest quantities of illicit drugs.
"He was a nondescript sort of dude who wanted to be a gangster," Mr Galloway said. "He wasn't a big criminal. He wasn't well known like some of the hoods around town."
Macris's life of crime did not appear to be a financial success, the lawyer said.
"I wouldn't call Johnnie a generous man with his money," Mr Galloway said. "If you want to be a gangster, someone takes your spot eventually. That's how it goes."
