Police were yesterday investigating the possible motives behind the unusually brutal murder of a 43-year-old bodyguard who was shot at least 20 times outside his home in Halandri, northern Athens, late on Monday night.

Polyvios Kalogeropoulos had been working as a personal guard for the president of Errikos Dynan Hospital and was mowed down when he arrived home from work. Police found 27 bullet casings at the scene but initial inspections by officers showed that Kalogeropoulos had been hit some 20 times.

Police said that they suspected the attack was likely instigated by someone looking to settle scores with the bodyguard.

The victim had been arrested three times in the past, police said: in 1984, for stealing a gun from a policeman; the same year for impersonating an officer after being caught wearing a policeman’s uniform; and in 2002, he was taken in for theft. Despite his criminal record, the victim had worked as a security guard since the 1980s.

Kalogeropoulos was married and his wife is expecting the couple’s first child.