Murderer Landlord Caged for At Least 28 Years for “Execution-Style” Slaying of Unarmed Tenant in Adelaide Suburbs
- Matthew Draganoff, 48, shot Simon Middleton three times at close range in a brutal killing that has left the victim’s family devastated
- District Court Justice Anne Bampton slammed Draganoff’s “consummate cruelty” and “callous disregard for human life” in jailing him for life with a 28-year non-parole period
- The victim’s stepdaughter, Liana Middleton, said the murder had “taken so much away” from her family, and she hoped Draganoff would one day understand the severity of his crime
Matthew Charles Draganoff, a 48-year-old Adelaide landlord, has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a 28-year non-parole period for the “execution-style” murder of his unarmed tenant, Simon Middleton, in the northern suburbs of Adelaide.
Supreme Court Justice Anne Bampton described the killing as a “brutal and callous” act, carried out by Draganoff who had been at odds with Middleton over a property dispute. The court heard that Draganoff, who was subject to a firearms prohibition order, had obtained a stolen high-powered rifle and used it to shoot Middleton three times at close range in the early hours of March 8, 2021.
“You came upon Simon Middleton as he was unarmed and, on the phone,” Justice Bampton said in sentencing. “You shot him at close-range in the arm, a wound which in the opinion of the forensic pathologist was fatal, you then pursued him and shot him in the buttock, finally once he was on the ground you inflicted the last gunshot wound to his head, at which time there can be no doubt you intended to kill him.”
Outside court, Middleton’s stepdaughter, Liana Middleton, expressed her family’s devastation at the loss of their loved one. “It’s disgusting,” she said. “There’s nothing that’s going to bring my dad back. There’s nothing that’s going to fix it and unfortunately now we just have to… learn how to live with it. I just hope one day he actually understands what he’s done.”
Daganoff, who has lodged an appeal against his conviction, will be eligible for parole in 2049 when he is 73 years old.