Why a man was brutally bashing to death over a pair of fake Apple AirPods – as a second attacker is found guilty of murder
- Second man who bashed Ross Houllis to death charged
- Abdul Karaali’s found guilty of murder
- Mr Houllis sold Karaali’s friend fake AirPods
A second man has been found guilty of murder after a pair bashed a man to death who had sold them fake AirPods online.
The jury in Abdul Karaali’s NSW Supreme Court trial returned a guilty verdict on Thursday, March 17.
After a three-week trial at the NSW Supreme Court the jury took three days to reach their verdict.
Ross Houllis, 28, was bashed at Wakeley in Sydney‘s west on Valentine’s Day 2020, before dying in hospital three days later.
CCTV captured two men bashing Mr Houllis in a suburban street after he went to sell a pair of Apple AirPods.
Abdul Karaali (pictured) was charged with murder by NSW Supreme Court on Thursday, March 17.
Mr Houliss’ mother, Janet, appeared before a press pool immediately after the verdict was handed down, saying it had been a hard three years since her son’s murder.
Sami Hamdach pled guilty to murder in July 2022, but had previously refused to name the other man who took part in the bashing.
Motorists who stopped to check on Mr Houllis’ welfare during the beating were told he was intoxicated and the two men were looking after him.
Kiraali’s barrister Irving Wallach had previously attempted to dismiss the footage, claiming it was unrepresentative of what was happening at the time.
‘What you are being presented with are clearly poor quality images,’ Wallach said.
‘The prosecution’s evidence on its whole is of poor quality.’
Karaali is due to return to court on March 31.
Another man, Sami Hamdach, is due to be sentenced for his role in the murder on the same day.
Hamdach bought a pair of earphones from Mr Houllis the day prior to the attack and believed they weren’t genuine.
His girlfriend arranged for Mr Houllis to meet and sell another pair, when he was attacked by Hamdach and Karaali.
The girlfriend of Karaali avoided charges as the sole caretaker of their three disabled children as her partner faces life in prison.
CCTV captured footage of Mr Houllis (left) selling the Airpods to Hamdach (right) at a train station days before Hamdach’s girlfriend lured Mr Houllis to a carpark
Janet Houllis appeared before a press pool immediately after the verdict was handed down, saying it had been a hard three years since her sons murder