One of Australia’s most wanted fugitives has been arrested at a rural Greek farmhouse after nearly three decades on the run — undone not by a painstaking international manhunt but by a routine roadside police check during which he allegedly gave false information and then confessed he was wanted in Australia.
James Dalamangas, 56, was detained on Sunday by Greek authorities at a property in Aigialeia, in central Greece’s Achaia region, where he had been living under several aliases and working as a farmer since fleeing Australia in 1999. He is accused of the fatal stabbing of father-of-two George Giannopoulos at the Pariziana nightclub in Belmore, south-west Sydney, that year. Giannopoulos was stabbed in the neck and stomach while attempting to break up a fight. A warrant for Dalamangas’s arrest was issued the day after the killing, but police were unable to locate him, and he is believed to have left for Greece almost immediately.
The arrest came about through a combination of misfortune and apparent candour on Dalamangas’s part. During a roadside check, he allegedly provided false information to officers before admitting he was wanted in Australia. Heavily armed police then raided his home, where they allegedly found a crossbow, three knives, 13 mobile phones, a computer and three USB sticks. He was charged with weapons offences and making false statements, and was expected to appear before the Greek Public Prosecutor’s Office on Monday. His 86-year-old father and 47-year-old partner were also arrested and are accused of harbouring an alleged criminal.
Australian authorities are expected to petition for extradition. The Australian Federal Police had renewed a $200,000 reward for Dalamangas’s capture as recently as 2024 and he had been the subject of an Interpol Red Notice. NSW Police confirmed awareness of his arrest and are understood to have informed the Giannopoulos family, who were described as “very happy” to receive the news, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Dalamangas’s history with Australian law enforcement predates the Giannopoulos killing. On 31 January 1998, his brother Peter — a 23-year-old bodybuilder and telecommunications worker — died in a brawl with security staff at Star City Casino in Sydney. Dalamangas, then 28, was charged with assaulting casino guards on the same night. The family campaigned for years, claiming Peter had been “murdered” at the venue.
Shortly after James Dalamangas vanished in 1999, his mother Christine said her son was “always a good boy” who was hiding because he was “scared the police will do something to him — hurt him,” as she claimed had happened following his brother’s death. She said she had not seen her son since the afternoon before Giannopoulos was killed.
He had remained free for 27 years — until a country road in central Greece brought his fugitive life to an end.
