A man has been charged with murder after an inner-west cafe owner was shot dead in a late-night ambush.
Bill Panagakos was shot on March 5, 2014, his 45th birthday, and left in a pool of blood on Railway Street, Petersham, just after 11pm.
His business partner Gazi Safarjalani, who lists his job online as the manager of Mr Panagakos' now-defunct cafe, was arrested on Wednesday night following a three-year investigation.
The 36-year-old did not apply for bail in Burwood Local Court on Thursday.
Mr Panagakos lived in a boarding house in Ashfield and had served time in prison for drug supply several years before he was killed.
He had gone on to open a cafe, Gossip Cafe, in the Top Ryde shopping centre but the parent company stopped trading in 2013.
Mr Panagakos and Mr Safarjalani were both listed as directors of the company, BP & GS Pty Ltd.
Mr Safarjalani, from Lidcombe, described himself online as a hospitality worker who had managed Gossip Cafe since 2009.
Fairfax Media understands that police will allege the killing was drug related.
Residents in Petersham reported hearing up to five gunshots on the night of Mr Panagakos' death and ran out onto the street to find him lying on the footpath. He died at the scene.
"It was three shots and then two and then some kind of yelling," Petersham resident Megan O'Connell said at the time.
"We honestly just thought it was kids mucking around."
On Thursday, police said witnesses reported seeing two men running from the area, and despite an extensive search, no one was located.
Detectives from the State Crime Command's Homicide Squad and Marrickville Local Area Command established Strike Force Arrandale to investigate.
Mr Safarjalani will return to court on May 4.
