Vinzent Tarantino ‘of interest’ in Quanne Diec disappearance, coroner told

Vinzent Tarantino was cleared of murdering schoolgirl Quanne Diec by a Supreme Court jury — but police have told the coroner he remains a person of “significant” interest in the cold case.

Paranoid former bouncer Vinzent Tarantino remains a “person of significant interest” in the disappearance and suspected murder of schoolgirl Quanne Diec — even after being cleared by a jury — the NSW Coroner has heard.

But unless fresh and compelling evidence is unearthed the bizarre case could reach a final dead end in just a few days.

Quanne was just 12-years-old when she walked out of her parents’ Granville home, on her way to school, and vanished forever in July 1998.

Her body has never been found but a court previously heard former Kings Cross bouncer Vinzent Tarantino, whose father lived nearby, repeatedly claimed he’d killed the girl and dumped her body in bushland.

Vinzent Tarantino leading police to a possible burial site of Quanne Diec. Picture: Supplied

But the jury at Mr Tarantino’s Supreme Court murder trial were told the mentally unwell man had lied about his guilt to get police protection.

Mr Tarantino believed his life was under constant threat from bikies and he had, in truth, witnessed a horrific OMCG murder just months before the girl vanished, the court heard.

The jury ultimately found Mr Tarantino not guilty in November 2019 and he walked free.

But on Wednesday the NSW Coroner was told Mr Tarantino remains a “person of significant interest” and mentioned no other name or suspected cause of death other than homicide at a brief hearing into the cold case.

Deputy Coroner Derek Lee was told Quanne is dead, likely as the result of homicide shortly after her disappearance and the place and cause of her demise is unknown.

Vinzent Tarantino arrives at the Supreme Court in Sydney in November 2019. Picture: AAP Image/Joel Carrett

The court was asked to consider an open finding and it will resume on Monday for formal findings to be handed down.

The court did not hear who allegedly killed Quanne.

The year seven student was the much loved daughter of Vietnamese migrants Sam Diec and Anne Ngo.

They were devastated that they still had no answer about Quanne’s fate.

“Someone out there knows where she is and, to that person, you have shattered our family,” Quanne’s cousin Christine Woo said the day Mr Tarantino was acquitted.

Quanne’s family was not in the Coroners Court on Wednesday for the hearing and are not expected to attend on Monday for the result.

The girl’s mother was the last to see her as she walked from the home to Clyde railway station on the sunny winter morning in 1998.

Police alleged, at trial, Quanne got into Mr Tarantino’s white van before he drove her to his father’s home, around the corner, and suffocated her.

Mr Tarantino told the court he actually picked up a petite woman who worked with his then-girlfriend at a brothel.

That ex-girlfriend, Laila Faily, became a star witness against him in the trial.

Ms Faily said Mr Tarantino picked her up one night and drove into scrubland south of Sydney where he offloaded a wheelie bin.

Quanne Diec went missing after leaving her Granville home to catch the train to Strathfield Girls High School in 1998.

Years later, after being arrested and charged with the girl’s murder, Mr Tarantino led police through bushland trying to locate the burial site.

Mr Tarantino later said he led police on a wild-goose chase because of threats made against his family in the cells.

The former bouncer said at trial that he’d actually buried a container of cocaine and a gun, not Quanne’s body.

Mr Tarantino had told the court he had spent the last few decades seeking refuge in psychiatric ward before he decided police would be able to protect him.

His fears stemmed from the moment he walked into the basement of the Black Market Cafe in 1997 and saw three Bandidos bikies dead after a shootout with a rival Rebels.

Police searching a home in Granville believed to be connected to Vincent Tarantino in 2016. Picture: AAP Image/Dean Lewins

The fear of retribution from the Rebels saw Mr Tarantino barricade himself in his home, hotel rooms and even accidentally shoot himself in the leg as he crisscrossed the country trying to survive the phantom assassins.

Outside court, following his acquittal, Mr Tarantino told the media they’d failed to look into the story properly.

“Put a gun to someone’s head and you’ll do whatever they say,” he said when asked about his false confessions.

Mr Tarantino had laid low since the trial until he was convicted and put on a community corrections order for assault and domestic violence earlier this year.