Melbourne gangland killings


The Melbourne gangland killings were the murders of 36 underworld figures in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, between January 1998 and August 2010. The murders and battle were retributive killings involving underworld groups. The deaths caused a power vacuum within Melbourne's criminal community, and rival factions battle for control and influence. Many of the murders remain unsolved, although detectives from the Purana Taskforce believe that Carl Williams was responsible for at least 10 of them. The period culminated in the arrest of Williams, who pleaded guilty on 28 February 2007 to three of the murders.
Since the confession of Williams, the ultimate source of the violence has become public knowledge. On his 29th birthday, while meeting with Jason Moran and his half brother Mark Moran on 13 October 1999 at a suburban park in Gladstone Park, Jason Moran shot Carl Williams in the stomach over a dispute about money relating to their amphetamine trade. Through the period after his run-in with the Moran family, Williams commenced a war with the aim of killing all members of the ‘Carlton Crew’.
The murder of former lawyer Mario Condello on 6 February 2006 caused speculation of a possible resurgence in the killings, although this was denied by police.
On 19 April 2010, Carl Williams was murdered by fellow inmate Matthew Johnson while incarcerated at Barwon Prison. Williams would have been 71 before becoming eligible for parole.

Background

The majority of underworld crime figures and major incidents can be traced back to the Painters and Dockers Union that existed on Melbourne's waterfront after World War II. The union had a mafia-like structure, and most criminal activity was centred around control of the Union, and the cut associated with the drugs that passed through the port. The Melbourne Markets was used as a distribution point for the illegal drugs, because of its close proximity to the docks.
By 1990 the local manufacture of amphetamines had increased to the point where the police described Melbourne as the "amphetamine capital of Australia". As well as drug dealing, criminals received income through protection rackets in King Street nightclubs, as well as in prostitution, illegal gambling, and armed robbery.
The genesis of the underworld conflict can be traced to the 1996 arrest of John Higgs, then Australia's number one trafficker of amphetamines. Higgs was a well-connected criminal with a wide network of contacts both in the underworld and among corrupt police, and it took several years in one of the country's most expensive criminal investigations to finally convict him of drug trafficking charges. The case was controversial and included a major cache of drugs linked to Higgs and his syndicate mysteriously vanishing in the storage depots of Melbourne's drug squad, almost certainly thanks to corrupt police involvement. The downfall of Higgs and his closest associates meant younger criminals became keen to enter the drug trade and fill the vacuum left by Higgs' arrest. This included underworld figures such as Jason Moran and Carl Williams who would become key figures in the Melbourne gangland killings.
The catalyst that ignited the conflict was the 1998 murders of Melbourne gangsters Alphonse Gangitano, shot dead in his own home on 16 January 1998, and Charles Hegyalji known as "Mad Charlie", murdered in front of his house on 23 November of that same year. Both Gangitano and Hegyalji had been major figures in the Melbourne underworld, and Gangitano in particular had been a close ally of Higgs. Following these two deaths many of Gangitano and Hegyalji's former associates suddenly rose to positions of importance in the underworld, and it was several of these figures, such as Vince Mannella and Dimitrios Belias, who became the next victims in Melbourne's underworld war as the fight for power escalated. The conflict was further exacerbated by the 1999 shooting of Carl Williams, who was shot in the stomach by the Moran brothers, Jason and Mark, over a drug-related debt. Williams, who survived the shooting, vowed to exterminate the Moran family and in doing so became the most infamous criminal involved in the killings, as he arranged the murders of most of the Moran family and several of their allies in the Carlton Crew.

Groups and factions

The following groups of people were connected to the murders. A number of those named below were members of more than one group at the same time.
;The Honoured Society
;The Painters and Dockers / Moran family
;The Carlton Crew
;Radev Gang
;The Sunshine Crew
;The Williams Family

Investigation

The Purana Task Force was established by Victoria Chief Commissioner of Police Christine Nixon in 2003 to investigate the Melbourne gangland killings and major drug syndicates. The taskforce enjoyed success in investigating and halting the killings, despite initially being pushed for staff. In 2008, following the halt in killings, the purview of the task force was expanded.
Investigations were initially hampered by a "code of silence", with few organised crime figures willing to risk their lives to provide details to state and federal authorities but they were able to cultivate informers and protected witnesses from within the criminal community although Victoria's state police have lamented the death of gang figures who were killed before they were able to aid their investigation. The use of one of those informers, barrister Nicola Gobbo, led to multiple court cases including the High Court of Australia decision AB v CD, a Royal Commission and placing hundreds of convictions in doubt.
During the existence of the Purana taskforce it was led by a number of different officers including:
  • Jim O’Brien
  • Andrew Gustke
In the first three years of the Purana taskforce
  • 316 people were investigated
  • 6000 hours of recordings were made from 328,000 telephone conversations
  • 39 tracking devices were used which helped the taskforce spend 22,000 hours following suspects
These efforts helped taskforce Purana which was praised for their efforts to stop the killings.
Detective Inspector Andrew Gustke was head of the taskforce in 2016 and stated that if groups like Purana were successful then there would be a reduction in the level of general crime. At the same time it was announced that they would begin investigating firearms trafficking which had caused an increase in shootings in Melbourne. Gustke also wanted international taskforces to be set up to stop drug trafficking before it reaches Australia.
In 2019 it was revealed that, in 2006, Purana detectives hid from the court the fact that they paid money into the prison account of a crown witness. The Court of Appeal ruled this to be a miscarriage of justice and quashed the conviction.
The Purana taskforce was closed after a 2021 review found that the taskforce had achieved what it was set up to do, but a change was required to enable detectives to respond more quickly to changing threats, with a spokesperson saying that whilst "highly successful during this time, the criminal landscape has changed significantly since its inception, which is why we have recommended the operation closes". Whilst the taskforce was in operation it was responsible for the laying of charges in 15 murders with 11 convictions, as well as intervening to prevent six murders. It also seized $70 million in assets information and assisted the Australian Taxation Office in issuing around 1000 tax demand notices which recouped more than $15 million.

Timeline of events

1995

  • 7 February 1995 – Greg Workman shot dead by Alphonse Gangitano over a $50,000 debt in Wando Grove, St Kilda.

    1996

  • 15 August 1996 – Tim Richards and Les Knowles, two mechanics who also dealt in drugs, were shot dead in their auto-shop by Gerald David Preston. A third mechanic, Kym Traeger, was wounded but survived. The killing was related to drugs and is believed to have been ordered by the Hell's Angel outlaw motorcycle club, of which Preston was an associate. Preston was convicted in 1998 and given a life sentence with a 32-year non-parole period, and the driver for the murder, Kevin Wayne Gillard, was also given a life sentence.

    1997

  • 20 April 1997 – George Marcus was shot six times in Box Hill North, as he was visiting his partner's home. Marcus, suspected of running a massive counterfeit ring, was involved in foreign business deals in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, and was connected to the Chaouk crime family in Melbourne. Marcus was shot dead by two gunmen in front of the house's garage, and the killers then sped away in a late-model Holden Commodore or Ford. Police found fake cheques worth between $30,000 and $250,000 in Marcus's briefcase, for a total of more than $16,650,000. Marcus was also suspected of being an informant for the Australian Federal Police. In his books, Chopper Read alleged police involvement in the murder of George Marcus.

    1998

  • 16 January 1998 – The Melbourne gangland killings are believed to have begun with the murder of 40-year-old Alphonse Gangitano. He was shot and killed in the laundry of his own home, while wearing only his underwear. A coroner's report into his death directly implicated Jason Moran and Graham Kinniburgh. They were both found to be in Gangitano's home in Templestowe when the murder took place; however, it could not be established who pulled the trigger. Kinniburgh's blood was found on a banister inside the house, and his skin was found on a dent on the front security door. Both were excused from giving evidence to the coroner on the grounds they might incriminate themselves. It is widely believed that Jason Moran was the one who shot Gangitano.
  • 3 August 1998 – John Furlan, a 48-year-old motor mechanic from Coburg, was killed by a car bomb in his Subaru Liberty in Lorensen Avenue, Merlynston. Domenic "Mick" Gatto was initially treated as a suspect since he had been involved in a payment dispute with the deceased; however, no one has been arrested in connection with his death.
  • 23 November 1998 – 42-year-old stand-over man Charles Hegyalji, known as "Mad Charlie", was killed at his Caulfield home. He was an acquaintance of Chopper Read and had been associated with the amphetamine industry.