Three men have been found not guilty of murdering self-professed vampire gigolo Shane Chartres-Abbott.

Mr Chartres-Abbott, 28, was gunned down outside his Reservoir home in June 2003 while on trial for raping a female client and biting off part of her tongue.

The woman’s former boyfriend Mark Adrian Perry, 46, and two other men, Warren Shea, 42, and Evangelos Goussis, 46, pleaded not guilty to his murder.

A Victorian Supreme Court jury returned not guilty verdicts for all three men on Tuesday following their two-month trial.

During the trial the jury heard Mr Chartres-Abbott told his alleged victim he was a vampire who needed to drink blood to survive, and he was “older than the city of Melbourne”.

The jury deliberated for four and a half days before returning their verdict.

Supporters of the men cheered as the verdicts were delivered and applauded the jury members as they left the court room.

Goussis wept and mouthed his thanks to the jury while holding his hand over his heart.

Goussis is serving a 30-year prison sentence for the murders of gangland figures Lewis Moran and Lewis Caine, but the verdicts leave Perry and Shea free to walk from court.

The jury found the trio not guilty of both murder and the alternative charge of manslaughter.