Tick Tock Diner Murder-For-Hire: Why did Georgios Spyropoulos Want His Uncle Killed?

The manager of the famous Tick Tock Diner in North Jersey has been arrested after allegedly trying to have his uncle, the co-owner of the Clifton, N.J. landmark and its sister location in New York City, killed.

There are often two things travelers remember from a trip down New Jersey Highway 3: Giants Stadium (replaced by MetLife Stadium) and the Tick Tock Diner.

Georgios Spyropoulos, 45, of Clifton, N.J. has been arrested after he attempted to have Alexandros Sgourdos, 57, killed through a murder-for-hire plot.

Spyropoulos was the manager of the iconic Tick Tock Diner, on Route 3 in Clifton. The diner has been seen on Food Network as a favorite stop for food critic and chef Guy Fieri, and many a weary New York City commuter. Spyropoulos hired a hit man, who turned out to be an undercover state trooper, to kill Sgourdos for the sum of $20,000, which Georgios Spyropoulos said was hidden in a safe in Tick Tock Diner's newer location near Penn Station in Manhattan, N.Y.

Spyropoulos specified that Sgourdos deceased body was to be well-hidden so that investigators would believe the Tick Tock Diner's co-owner had simply gone missing. He had allegedly studied his uncle's daily movements, and had them down to a "T"; to the point that Spyropoulos knew the fashion in which Uncle Alexandros parked his car in front of his Clifton, N.J. home.

Georgios Spryropoulos told the "hitman" to torture Sgourdos until he gave up the combination to the safe, which Sgourdos lawyers say doesn't even exist. He also said he "didn't give an [expletive]" if Sgourdos' wife was maimed in the attack.

The manager of the Route 3 Tick Tock allegedly was understatedly angry at his uncle for the control Sgourdos held over the diner despite Spyropoulos' management. He was also allegedly not happy with the cut of the Tick Tock's profits he was receiving as evidenced by the attempted theft.

When he was arrested, Spyropoulos was found in possession of multiple firearms when he was arrested. He also allegedly threatened two waitresses, telling one that she would be "buried alive" if she reported a complaint against him.

The family is originally from Athens, Greece, and both men reside in Clifton. Georgios Spyropoulos is currently being held on $1 million bail in Passaic County Prison in Paterson, N.J.