Tradie found guilty of mansion murder
Tony Halloun told many lies following the murder of 65-year-old Shahnaz Qidwai in her Sydney waterfront mansion.
But the lie he repeated most came undone on Monday: "I'm an innocent man."
It took just two hours for a NSW Supreme Court jury to unanimously find the Sydney tradesman guilty of murdering Mrs Qidwai in June 2012.
Halloun, who had been concreting the driveway of the Henley property and was deeply in debt, told police three versions of events surrounding Mrs Qidwai's death, including that masked intruders stormed the lavish house where he had been working and ordered him to "get her".
In a sensational about-face, Halloun took the stand to admit to the jury he had made up this story because he did not belong in jail and was desperate to reunite with his family.
"I'm an innocent man," he told the court.
"No one believed me and I got arrested and jailed for two years."
Despite Halloun's protestations, the jury believed otherwise.
The victim's widower, Dr Khalid Qidwai, wept as the guilty verdict came down, while the detective who led the investigation wiped away tears.
Behind them was Mrs Qidwai's youngest daughter, Maha, 28, who found her mother on the floor near her bed with her face and mouth covered in blood and bruises.
Dr Qidwai emerged from the courtroom flanked by his children and spoke of the deep sorrow that had marked the past two years.
"This does not change the fact that my family and I will never see my beautiful, loving and vivacious Shahnaz again," a tearful Dr Qidwai told reporters outside court.
"We hope this is a step towards closure."
The Qidwais also reached out to members of the Halloun family, whom Dr Qidwai first met through his surgery three decades ago and described as "good people".
"Our compassion goes out to the convicted (man's) family amid this extremely tragic situation," he said.
Halloun's trial heard his company was nearly $100,000 in debt at the time of the killing and he had repeatedly asked Dr Qidwai for money.
The day before Mrs Qidwai's death, Halloun went to Dr Qidwai's surgery and asked him for $3500, crown prosecutor Giles Tabuteau told the court.
When Dr Qidwai refused, saying he would pay him once the driveway work had been completed, the court heard Halloun became aggressive and said, "I will win in the end."
The prosecution alleged Halloun stole about $3400 stashed in envelopes in the Qidwais' home.
Halloun will be sentenced in November.
