Mercedes belonging to South Melbourne murder victim Ellie Price found in Diggers Rest
A dangerous fugitive — and the son of convicted drug boss Joe Barbaro — had recently been released from jail over a previous attack on his girlfriend, Ellie Price. He is now being hunted for questioning over her murder.
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Fugitive Ricardo Barbaro had just got out of jail and was facing police charges when he vanished from Melbourne as his girlfriend lay dead in a South Melbourne townhouse.
The 35-year-old Barbaro, who Victoria’s Homicide Squad has urged to turn himself in to police, is the subject of a nationwide manhunt after his girlfriend, Ellie Price, was found brutally murdered on Monday.
The Herald Sun has been told Barbaro was released from jail recently in relation to assaulting Ms Price.
It can also be revealed he was due to face court this September over an offence.
The revelations come as the Mercedes-Benz owned by Ms Price was found at a Diggers Rest property with links to the Calabrian mafia.
The Herald Sun spoke to Barbaro’s stepmother, Anita, who tearfully said she was in shock and was unaware of his whereabouts.
“I’m beside myself,’’ Ms Barbaro said.
“I don’t know what’s going on.’’
Asked if she would make a plea for Barbaro to turn himself into police, she said she was worried about him.
“We don’t know if he’s done anything.....I haven’t heard from him,’’ she said.
“I can’t bring myself to read the news or watch it.’’
Mr Barbaro had lived with his father, Joe, and Anita, for several years before moving out.
Finding extended family to shelter him may be limited for Barbaro, although it is speculated he may be on the Gold Coast.
A Griffith-based ‘’Honoured Society’’ figure said: “He better hope the cops find him before we do.”
Police Commissioner Graham Ashton said Ms Price’s death was tragic.
“We had the death earlier this week of a young lady [and] we have put out a call for assistance on yesterday and one of the lines of inquiry that we want to talk to Mr Barbaro about is family violence.”
Family violence incidents were among the most significant occuring in Victoria at the moment.
“We want to see if this is a family violence offence - it is obviously one of the lines of inquiry.”
Mr Ashton said Ms Price’s death was “yet another reminder of that harm occurring in someone’s home and the need to be looking out for each other at the moment.”
Ms Price’s missing Mercedes was found via a call from the public.
“That was in response to that call and were notified by the community and [police] attended and confirmed it was the car that belonged to the young lady.”
SUSPICIOUS WORKER RAISED ALARM ON DUMPED CAR
A stable worker is understood to have tipped police off to the location of a luxury car belonging to slain mum Ellie Price.
Mick, the observant middle-aged man who did not want to reveal his surname, spotted the car and its pink personalised number plates at a large property on Plumpton Rd in Diggers Rest.
Ms Price’s white 2017 E350 Mercedes sedan was reported missing from her South Melbourne home.
Homicide detectives announced that it was found overnight at a known property in Diggers Rest after search warrants were executed.
Barbaro, 33, remains on the run from police investigating the death of mum Ms Price, 26, in her South Melbourne townhouse.
Speaking exclusively to the Herald Sun, Mick said the car had been at the property for around a week and raised suspicions among people who worked on the property.
“It was there on Monday or Tuesday, we didn’t know who it belonged to,” Mick said.
“It had been there for so long. We were going to call the cops anyway.
“We saw the car on the news last night and it clicked, we rang the cops straight away.”
When asked if he was shocked the slain woman’s car had been dumped on the property, Mick said: “Yeah, obviously, what do you think?”
Homicide Squad detectives were speaking to people at the property where the car was found.
“At the moment I’m not at liberty to talk about the information that was disclosed.”
He refused to say what if any links they had to Barbaro.
As part of their inquiry, police would delve into previous dealings they had with the Barbaro family.
“I’m sure that would absolutely be one of the lines of inquiry.”
The Homicide Squad were speaking to their NSW and Qld counterparts in an effort to locate Barbaro.
“Would you want to say anything if it was a mafia boss who was wanted?”
Renos Michaeledis lives at one of the six houses at the property and witnessed 30 or so police arrived around 4am this morning to inspect the car.
“The car was there for a few days, but sometimes people leave their cars here,” Renos Michaeledis said.
“It’s no good,” he said. “We saw it on the TV and knew straight away.
“There were 30, 40 cops here this morning. Who is bloody going to leave this car here, it’s too unusual.”
He refused to say what if any links they had to Barbaro.
The car is not visible at the large property this afternoon.
Mr Ashton said Ellie Price’s death was tragic, and that family violence incidents were among the most significant occuring in Victoria at the moment.
“We had the death earlier this week of a young lady [and] we have put out a call for assistance on yesterday and one of the lines of inquiry that we want to talk to Mr Barbaro about is family violence,” he said.
He confirmed Herald Sun reports that Ms Price had previously been assaulted by Mr Barbaro.
“There is a family violence history in that relationship.”
He said that went back to at least last year.
Neither Mr Barbaro or Ms Price was visited by police as part of the force’s Operation Ribbon, because that was targeting known victims who had been family violence victims often for a number of years.
He remains at large following the discovery of Ms Price’s body in her South Melbourne apartment about 2.15pm on Monday.
Anyone who sights Mr Barbaro is asked not to approach him and to contact triple-zero.
Police believe Mr Barbaro could now be travelling in his white 2009 Toyota Hiace van with the registration 1OZ 8PC.
He is 185cm tall with a solid build, black hair and olive complexion.
Detectives have made fresh pleas this morning for Mr Barbaro to come forward and contact with police.
They have also warned anyone harbouring or assisting Mr Barbaro that they could face criminal prosecution.
Police believe Mr Barbaro could have fled interstate and a nationwide manhunt was underway overnight, with Queensland police saying they have now been asked to be on the lookout for Mr Barbaro.
A member of one of Australia’s most notorious gangland families, he has strong family links to the Gold Coast, with his last known address at Southport.
Mr Barbaro is the brother of the Gold Coast’s Harley Barbaro, an accused member of the Mongols, who hit headlines recently for allegedly breaching anti-consorting laws.
Their mother is also believed to live on the Gold Coast.
Sources said Mr Barbaro, who was raised on the Gold Coast, moved to Melbourne about 18 months ago to follow an ex-partner.
Prominent Gold Coast criminal lawyer Campbell MacCallum, who has acted for the Barbaros, said the family instructed that they “do not wish to make any comment”.
Homicide squad detectives believe Ms Price could have been dead for almost a week before she was found on Monday.
Detective Inspector Tim Day on Thursday pleaded with Mr Barbaro to hand himself in.
“This is not going to go away. This is an opportunity for you to come forward now,” he said.
Police discovered Ms Price’s body on Monday after her worried mother asked them to check on her at her home.
Investigators believe she was fatally assaulted between the afternoon of April 28 and the early hours of the next morning.
Park St neighbours said they were sad to know the young mum had been dead in her home for days without being found.
“It’s horrible to think she could have been found earlier. But there are less people moving around and doing their normal things at the moment,” said one.
Ms Price’s mum, Tracey Gangell, only discovered Mr Barbaro’s full identity yesterday after it was made public by police seeking him.
She said her daughter did not share many details about her boyfriend, as “she knew I didn’t like him”.
Weeks before her death, Mr Barbaro allegedly split open her face during an argument.
Ms Price told her mother the assault landed her in hospital and him in jail, and his family hated her for it.
“She said his mother didn’t like her after putting him in jail,” said Ms Gangell.
Mr Day said Ms Price’s death was a tragedy and that her killer must be brought to justice.
He would not speculate on the motive for her killing and believed Mr Barbaro could help them “understand exactly what happened”.
“I think the death of any person in such circumstances is tragic. There is no other way to describe it,” he said.
“We have a young female, 26 years of age, who has died prematurely. She has a family grieving and a community that needs and deserves answers.”
Ms Price was mother to four-year-old Mostafa, who was with his grandmother in Tasmania when she was killed.
Barbaro’s white 2009 Toyota Hiace van has the registration 1OZ 8PC. Ms Price’s white 2017 E350 Mercedes sedan bears the pink number plates 22 ZERO.
Detectives urged anyone with information, including dashcam footage in the area between the afternoon of April 28 and the early hours of April 29, to contact Crime Stoppers.
TASSIE GIRL LOVED FAMILY AND LIVED FOR HER SON
Ellie Price had a smile that could light up a room.
Her four-year-old son, Mostafa, worshipped the ground she walked on and so did her six nieces and nephews.
Before her death, Ms Price had been saving up to buy her niece Tyneisha a Louis Vuitton bag for her 14th birthday.
She loved her family and they loved her.
Their lives have been turned upside since learning of her brutal murder on Monday.
Her nana, Sherry Bradford, said she would never forget her last moments with her “favourite granddaughter”.
Ms Price had flown to Tasmania to celebrate her nana’s birthday in March.
“She had a heart of gold. She was a beautiful kid,” Ms Bradford told the Herald Sun.
“She didn’t deserve to die. I loved her so much.
“We will look at Mossi (her son) and think of Ellie. She will never be gone with him around.”
Tracey Gangell said her daughter lived for her son and was always inventing fun for them.
“She was the best mum ever. She was always taking him to the park or activity places,” she said.
“He never wanted for anything. She did so much with him.
“They would always play hide and seek in the house and have a wrestle on the floor. Mossi used to love that.”
Ms Price moved to Melbourne almost a decade ago to chase her dreams.
She loved Melbourne’s night life and shopping and was so excited for the coronavirus lockdown to be lifted.
“She couldn’t wait for everything to reopen so she could get her nails and eyebrows done,” Ms Gangell said.
“She liked to keep herself looking good all the time.”
Ms Price was raised in Rokeby in southeast Tasmania and spent her childhood around horses.
Weeks before her death her mum brought her a new pony named Charlie.
The pair were planning to enter the young colt into horseshows in Tasmania.
“She was going to dress him up in a nice hot pink suit and take him to a horseshow,” Ms Gangell said.
The last time she was in Tasmania, Ms Price visited her first pony, Penny.
The horse, aged 30, is unwell so Ms Price thought to say goodbye, not knowing her horse would outlive her.
“She loved that pony,” Ms Gangell said.
Friend Mara Everett said Ms Price was vibrant and fun and the world was smaller without her.
Ms Price’s body will be flown to Tasmania for her funeral.
MUM’S ANGUISH OVER DAUGHTER’S DEATH
Tracey Gangell said her daughter had a “heart of gold” and lived for her four-year-old son, Mostafa.
“Everyone loved her. She would do anything for anyone and help out in any way she could,” her mother said.
Ms Price’s son was in Tasmania with his grandmother when she was killed and is yet to learn of her death.
“He asked ‘where is mum?’ on Tuesday. I don’t know how to tell him. He absolutely adored her,” Ms Gangell said.
About a month ago, Ms Price told her mother her boyfriend allegedly bashed her, splitting open her eye.
She required stitches in hospital and sought domestic violence support, her mum said.
“She knew I was dead against him,” Ms Gangell said.
A photo of Ms Price provided by her mother shows her wearing a bandage above her injured eye.
Ms Gangell hoped her daughter’s killer would be caught and jailed so no one else would suffer.
“Why, why take her away from her son? Every mother deserves to see their kids grow up,” she said.
Ms Price was born and raised in Tasmania but had lived in Melbourne for almost a decade.
In late April, Ms Price urged friends “don’t take life for granted” and to be “grateful for the little things” when reflecting on COVID-19 deaths on Facebook.
Her mother became worried for her welfare last Wednesday after Ms Price stopped posting on social media or taking phone calls.
Ms Gangell called police and asked them to check on her daughter at her home on Monday.
Police delivered the news of her daughter’s death that night.
In her final text to her mum, she wrote: “Give Mossi a kiss for me. I love you.”
Her body was found on the 16th anniversary of the murder of Athol Tollard, her childhood father figure.
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Originally published as Mercedes belonging to South Melbourne murder victim Ellie Price found in Diggers Rest
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