Former top cop Sir Ken Jones suspects foul play in gangland boss Carl Williams’ killing

A former top cop investigating the brutal killing of Carl Williams believes foul play led to his death, with many desperate to silence the man who knew too much.

Former top cop Sir Ken Jones says the prison murder of Carl Williams is a “boil” on the Victorian justice system which needs to be “lanced”.

The former Victorian Police deputy commissioner says he suspects corruption and conspiracy were at play when the gangland boss was beaten to death inside Barwon Prison’s high-security Acacia unit.

Williams, who was co-operating with police on a number of unsolved murders, was killed by jailhouse enforcer Matthew Johnson who bashed him to death with the seat stem from an exercise bike.

The casket of Carl Williams outside his funeral at an Essendon church.

Sir Ken, who headed the investigation into the killing of Williams, said his death was “all too convenient” and the obvious question to be asked was who benefited from his demise.

“We know what happened – I don’t think we know why it happened,” Sir Ken told 3AW on Tuesday.

“For me it all looks very convenient because Carl Williams was our best shot at the time of getting to the bottom of a number of unresolved homicides going back to the days of the gangland wars.

Carl Williams is lead from Melbourne Supreme Court after drug trafficking hearing. Picture: Richard Cisar-wright

Carl Williams pictured with his daughter, Dhakota. Picture: Instagram

“When he died a lot of those opportunities died with him. I still think there are questions to be answered, there is still a long way to go.

“My opinion – and it is only that in the end – is that yes, it was all too convenient and it was in too many people’s interests that he needed to be got out of the way. You just have to start with the question: Who benefits?

“It’s very difficult to believe the official explanation of how that occurred.”

Retired Victoria Police deputy commissioner Sir Ken Jones believes there are unanswered questions around Williams’ killing. Picture: AAP

Sir Ken said there were a slew of unanswered questions around the 2010 killing including the length of time Williams was left unsupervised, how Johnson was able to remove a part of an exercise bike which could serve as a deadly weapon, why Williams was not noticed for 25 minutes as he lay bleeding to death and why the alarm over the bashing was ultimately raised by a prisoner.

Roberta Williams last year said she believed the killing of her former husband was a paid hit organised outside the walls of Barwon Prison.

A look inside Barwon Prison's Acacia Unit Gym and Recreation area. Picture: Network 10

Multiple inquiries into the murder have found no proof that Johnson was paid to kill Williams and a Corrections Victoria report found the Acacia monitoring station was unattended at the time of the attack.

Sir Ken said the killing of Williams and the Lawyer X scandal needed to be fully resolved.

“So far it’s been very very sticky, I think, getting some daylight on some very difficult areas,” he said.

“Unless the boil is lanced it’s going to be there forever … it just needs to be confronted.”

Originally published as Former top cop Sir Ken Jones suspects foul play in gangland boss Carl Williams’ killing