Michael Kanaan

Michael Kanaan (born 23 May 1975) is an Australian triple murderer from Sydney, currently serving three sentences of life imprisonment plus 50 years and 4 months without the possibility of parole, for the murder of three people and other offences, all committed in Sydney between 17 July 1998 and 22 December 1998.

In the drama series Underbelly: The Golden Mile, he was portrayed by actor Ryan Corr.

In the late 1990s, Danny Karam formed a criminal gang using his own initials: DK's Boys.

Karam and the gang's principal criminal activity was the distribution and sale of cocaine in the inner-Sydney suburb of Kings Cross.

Other members included Kanaan, Rabeeh Mawas, Wassim El-Assaad, Charlie Gea Gea, Saleh Jamal, and a further male who would later be given the pseudonym Alan Rossini.

Karam's gang was made up of predominately Middle-Eastern men from the suburbs in Sydney's inner-city, where the gang also worked for Karam on the street.

The DK's Boys drug gang took control of Sydney's criminal drug trade with violence and intimidation.

On the evidence of Rossini, he, along with Kanaan, Shadi Derbas, Bassam Kazzi and an unidentified man, drove to a cafe in Five Dock in Sydney's inner-western suburbs.

Shortly after leaving the café they stopped on Great North Road at traffic lights.

Nearby was the Five Dock Hotel.

On the footpath, two friends, Ronald Singleton and Michael Hurle were involved in an altercation, and they were joined by a third friend, Adam Wright.

Rossini yelled to the trio "Come on, fellas, punch on".

Singleton replied with a racist comment and a fight involving the three patrons, Rossini, Kazzi and Kanaan ensued.

Kanaan produced a gun and fired at least four shots (witnesses reported varying numbers of shots) before the group drove off.

Singleton had been shot through the right arm, although he did not realise this until the group had driven off.

He survived.

Wright was shot in the lower abdomen.

Hurle had been shot in the lower left chest, while a second bullet had passed through his clothing and missed his body.

Wright and Hurle were hospitalised but both died the following day.

Kanaan and Jamal shot Elias "Les" Elias at Greenacre, in Sydney's south-west, following a dispute over a gun.

Again, on the evidence of "Rossini", Kanaan was challenged when he intervened in a verbal altercation.

"Who the fuck are you?"

asked Elias.

Kanaan produced his gun, said "Who the fuck am I?"

and started shooting at Elias' feet.

Jamal fired two shots at Elias, hitting him in the buttock.

He later described the attack, saying "Fuck Les, I shot him in the arse. The cops are going to shit. Two kneecappings in the one day, in the same place."

14 year-old Edward Lee was stabbed to death by Moustapha Dib on infamous Telopea Street in Punchbowl in Sydney's south-west.

Kanaan, who had links to most of those present at the scene, was informed of the situation, and was involved, along with Moustapha's brother, and Narwas Refai, in arranging for the Dib brothers to be transported to Queensland and alibis created by way of associates in Queensland booking a motel and ordering food under the Dibs' names.

In the early hours of the morning, 17 shots were fired at the police station in Lakemba, in Sydney's south-west.

In 1998, members of DK's Boys decided to kill Karam.

At the time the group operated out of a unit in Riley Street, Surry Hills, in Sydney's inner-city.

When Karam arrived at the unit, Kanaan, Mawas, El-Assaad and Gea Gea armed themselves and left the unit.

A psychologist's report in 2001 indicated that Kanaan experienced a normal, stable upbringing, that he and his family had a deep devotion to the Christian faith and that he abstained from the consumption of alcohol.

He attended CBHS Lewisham in Sydney and achieved a good result in his Higher School Certificate.

He entered a degree course at university with a view to entering the Australian Federal Police, but following a conviction for an assault charge, he instead entered the computer industry.

Kanaan and El-Assaad were found not guilty by a District Court jury on 16 May 2005.

On May 28, 2012, Jamal was sentenced to 12 years for the drive by shooting with a non-parole period of 6 years and 6 months.

Kanaan, El-Assaad and Jamal were charged in relation to a shooting incident on Eveleigh Street, Redfern, in Sydney's inner-south.

The charges against Jamal were dropped and the charges against Kanaan and El-Assaad also appear to have been dropped.