In the third and final part of our exclusive interview series with Vince Focarelli, the ex-bikie gang leader speaks of his murderous rage in the wake of his son’s killing, how he rediscovered God behind bars and his efforts to make amends through Islam for a life of violence, crime and anger.
’I WANTED TO MURDER GIOVANNI’S KILLER’
It took three months of imprisonment – after the death of his stepson Giovanni, known as Johnny – for Vince Focarelli to feel his “wake-up call”.
But the “baseball bat to the head” moment was yet to come.
“I became a Muslim about 20 years ago but I started following again when I lost Johnny,” Focarelli said.
“Johnny’s death wasn’t the turning point. I wanted to murder his killer. I wanted to assassinate him, his family. I already found God, I just didn’t turn at that time.
“I turned when I was three months into my prison sentence. I read the Koran and it just spoke to me.
“There was a particular chapter and it brought so much peace to me that I bawled my eyes out like a baby.”
He was released from jail in 2013 after serving 14 months on drugs and firearms charges. The following day Focarelli visited the Woodville grave of his son, after missing the funeral.
But with a plan to kill cemented in his head, Focarelli approached two sheiks and a scholar for guidance through the Islamic religion.
“I’m not going to go prancing around like a cowboy, I was going to do it and not get caught.
“I spoke to some sheiks and told them this is my right,” he said.
WHO DESERVES REVENGE?
During a late-night lecture, Focarelli was challenged on the idea of revenge.
“The sheik said: ‘But Vince, can I ask you a question?’,” Focarelli recalled.
“When this happened were you living a halal life (behaviour permissible in Islam), or haram life (unlawful actions)?”
“I said: ‘Haram life’.”
You’ve got no right (to take revenge). Because you were living that life, the sheik said.
A few moments passed without a word being spoken.
“I felt like someone hit me in the back of the head with a baseball bat,” Focarelli said.
“Boom. It took away all my spirit. I was almost there, I was almost there. I was leaving there that night. People wouldn’t have seen me for a few weeks.
“I would have planned (the murder of Johnny’s killer) beautifully and gone and done what I had to do.”
After seeking further advice, Focarelli’s heart changed.
“I forgive (the killer), but I can’t promise you that if he’s in front of me, I won’t maul him”.
“He deserves to be behind bars. I want him there. But I am not a dog. I would not do something that is not the right thing to do and put my family under stress.”
LOOKING TO MAKE A FRESH START
In the years that followed, Focarelli distanced himself from his violent past.
He opened La’Fig Cucina restaurant on Carrington Street in 2016, vowing his life of crime was over.
“I have always been a nice guy. My mother, my father, we are respectful people,” he said.
“I’m not an evil man, I’ve just done evil stuff because the life required it. But Islam has confirmed the person I was my whole life.
“My criminality doesn’t mean I bully people. I’ve always been kind.
“Who I was meant to be my whole life. It has brought me a sense of closure. High-level peace. I’m not perfect, I still struggle.
“Whatever good people saw in me then, I am 10 times better now. Because I’m acting on goodness and I’m expressing it with passion.”
But the change of ways was too late.
In February, 2017, Focarelli was served with a “notice of intent” to cancel his visa and was given 28 days to justify why he shouldn’t be deported.
Knowing his efforts to fight deportation would be in vain, he left, forced to abandon his wife and two children.
“So we thought about it and I can go to Italy, spend a couple of months there,” he said.
“And there are some boys in Malaysia that invited me to live there and if it’s God’s will, I can be free.
“The Sunday before I left, the community threw a big barbecue for me as a farewell.
“My family was flying to Malaysia five to six times a year for two to three weeks. I’ve been in prison for 11½ years with 20-minute visits once a week. So I’m not complaining.”
THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION
In the end, Islam was the antidote for a criminal whose life was laden with anger, violence and tragedy.
“Sometimes you go through life and ask who am I? I am ashamed of some things for sure. I feel ashamed because I did hurt a lot of people and my family and friends”.
“I didn’t hurt them intentionally but me going to prison, my mum cried every night. There was a domino effect. It’s hard because I’ve created pain and suffering.”
But redemption is always around the corner and Focarelli’s new life in Malaysia – where he cares for his 80-year-old mother who is battling cancer – is the ultimate proving ground.
“It’s never too late for anyone in this gangster life. Stay strong, stay positive and find God. Islam is the medicine and solution to anything in life.”
“I truly believe that the religion of Islam is the answer to everything that is a pandemic of drugs, alcohol and anything that is destroying our youth and communities.
Look at me, I was on drugs, drinking and shooting at people, trying to kill them. I was fighting with the cops. Look what Islam has done for me.
“I’m not knocking other religions but look at what’s happened to me. I’m an example of that.”
Now, Focarelli is a proud mentor to troubled and fragile youth as he works to correct the sins of his past.
“Parents come to me and say my son is getting bullied. I say: ‘Leave him with me’,” he said.
“Parents come and say he or she isn’t confident. They come to me and say our son is doing a lot of bullying.
“I educate them and I teach them the values and principles of life. I tell them my life story and how Islam helped me change. I show them my bullet wounds.
“I say this is what happens when we stray. Look at me now.
“If you saw me walking into our complex, you’d see the kids run and jump. ‘Coach, coach’, they say.
“I make sure they are the most important thing in the world. They need that attention or they will seek it somewhere else.
“How do I know this? Because I got kicked out of the house and got into gangs.”
***Focarelli is expected to release a book about his life in the near future***
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