Not a flicker as Matthew Charles Johnson is found guilty of murder
MATTHEW Johnson, self-styled jail general and slayer of Carl Williams, doesn't blink as the verdict is read. He doesn't so much as swallow.
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MATTHEW Johnson, self-styled jail general and slayer of Carl Williams, doesn't blink as the verdict is read. He doesn't so much as swallow.
Almost a month since his murder trial started, the single word from the jury box only confirms what most people - and probably even he - expected.
"Guilty", the forewoman almost whispers barely a minute after the jury entered, pointedly gazing anywhere else but at the defendant.
Johnson, big, shaved-head, menacing, now officially murderous, has two guards either side as he has through the trial.
Justice Lex Lasry has warned the court: "I expect decorum to be maintained."
And Johnson stares out, blank-eyed, unreadable, as he has through the trial.
In his going-to-court grey pinstripe suit and bright red tie, he stands, big hands clasped.
The jury are asked if they agree with the guilty verdict and they nod together.
Johnson watches that without reaction then is asked to be seated.
The jury is thanked and leaves, its Grand Final weekend secure now.
A Monday hearing is set to tidy up procedural loose ends, but Johnson isn't up for the outing.
"My client instructs that his preference is to stay at Barwon,'' Johnson's barrister Bill Stuart says.
The court adjourns and a woman who has been there for much of the case tries to talk to Johnson, but is stopped by security as he leaves.
She claims to be a friend. He doesn't acknowledge her at all.
Johnson toughed it out in letters to his mates, said jail wasn't a big deal.
"Doesn't matter but, cos I love this s---,'' he wrote.
He told the court last week: "I knew I would spend the next 30-40 years in jail''.
After almost a month of murder trial, his wishes are all but granted.
Williams' father George sat through all but the most grisly parts of the trial, but a spare seat where he sat between police is empty.
Roberta Williams, Carl's shrill ex, is similarly a no-show, better things, presumably, to do.
There is no drama, no performance, no gangland circus. Not much gangland to perform now, perhaps?
If Underbelly ended like this, it would have been canned one season in.
