Carl Williams killer Matthew Johnson calls the shots behind bars
HE’S serving jailtime for the murder of Carl Williams but jail gang boss Matthew Johnson is still calling the shots.
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NOTORIOUS jail gang boss Matthew Johnson is suspected of ordering a terror spree against the family of Carl Williams which ultimately almost killed a cop.
Johnson — the man who bludgeoned Williams to death with part of an exercise bike inside maximum security Barwon Prison — continues to wield major influence in the corrections system.
Rodney Phillips, 25, and Sam Liszczak, 23, were only days out of prison when they went on a rampage aimed at the Williams clan which ended in Constable Ben Ashmole being shot in the head.
A Sunday Herald Sun investigation can reveal police believe the pair were acting on Johnson’s direction when they opened fire on a Broadmeadows home they wrongly thought belonged to Carl’s father George and firebombed a Moonee Ponds property, mistakenly believing it was that of his ex-wife Roberta.
They investigated the Prisoners of War gang leader, known as The General, and examined his computer for evidence he was linked to the crime.
The men were described as “disciples” of Johnson.
Police found images of Carl and Roberta Williams when they executed a search warrant on Liszczak’s home.
A picture of Carl carried the words: “Last seen chewing on a bicycle seat”, a clear reference to his brutal demise in Barwon’s Acacia section.
An image of a smiling Roberta was above the heading: “Should be missing.”
Johnson has a Facebook page believed to be maintained by a contact on the outside and titled The General’s Jungle.
Liszczak was a Facebook friend of Johnson.
The page features pictures of Johnson apparently taken inside jail and a poem about the struggles of life behind bars.
He writes of jail, in part: “Problems are solved with mayhem and violence.
“Surrounded by concrete and a code of silence
“People live and people die.
“We operate on an eye for an eye”.
Johnson is suspected of being the source of crime scene pictures of the body of Carl Williams which have circulated in criminal circles in recent years.
Pictures of his body were provided in briefs-of-evidence given to parties involved in the prosecution of Johnson over the April, 2010, killing.
Despite both having extensive criminal records, Liszczak and Phillips were able to bargain their charges down to a level which infuriated Constable Ashmole’s family and the Police Association.
Constable Ashmole and his partner Tom Wospil were trying to intercept Liszczak and Phillips when a shot was fired into their vehicle.
Constable Ashmole was hit and has been left with 11 pellets embedded in his head.
The weapon used has never been recovered.
Liszczak and Phillips ultimately received minimum jail terms of six years.
Liszczak clearly demonstrated his hatred of the law in the days after the shooting.
He posted on social media an image of a gunman shoving his weapon into the mouth of a uniformed officer.
The drawing was later removed by Liszczak as the police investigation intensified.
Police Association secretary Wayne Gatt said the sentences were totally inadequate, particularly given a recent history of criminals opening fire on officers.
Mr Gatt said police in Victoria had been shot at five times in the past two years, including twice in recent weeks at St Albans and Dandenong.
“According to the Crime Statistics Agency, the number of assaults against police has again jumped this year to more than 3000. This represents a 25 per cent increase from only three years ago,” he said.
“It’s not just the rising volume of such crimes that are concerning. Equally worrying is the severity of such attacks.
“Legislation and sentencing should ensure that police are protected and have the confidence to do their job the community expects them to do”.
OUTLAW RULES FROM THE INSIDE
MATTHEW Charles Johnson has for almost 20 years been one of the most feared inmates in the state’s jails.
He is regarded as the founder of the Prisoners of War, a brutal outfit which is well-established as a ruthless presence inside and, sometimes, outside the correctional system.
Johnson’s reputation has been cemented by acts of extreme violence committed while spending the vast majority of his adult life behind bars, stretching back to the old Pentridge days.
Between 1991 and 2008, he had 28 separate court appearances, one of them a conviction for contempt of court over the notorious “Trial from Hell” case.
Johnson and five other hardened criminals accused of assaulting another inmate caused uproar during a trial in which excrement was thrown at jurors, buttocks displayed and abuse hurled over three shameful weeks.
The hulking 43-year-old has convictions for armed robbery, aggravated burglary and firearms offences but the act which would truly propel Johnson into the public consciousness came on April 19, 2010.
On that day, he used part of an exercise bike to bludgeon to death crime boss Carl Williams in Barwon Prison’s top security Acacia section.
For some, the crime still carries the stench of a planned attack on a man who Johnson and others knew was talking to police.
Williams knew more of the underworld’s secrets than most and was a potential threat to a number of its major players.
Johnson’s current arrangements at Barwon are unclear but he is one of the most heavily monitored inmates in the prison system.
The Sunday Herald Sun understands his interaction with other inmates is far more restricted than in the period before he murdered Williams.
Despite the scrutiny, police suspect he can still get his message across, where required.
Johnson’s many court appearances have never explained just how he came to be such a violent individual.
The death of his father when Matthew was just six has been mentioned during sentencing hearings, along with what was referred to as a “disrupted and difficult childhood.”
Johnson was originally from the Dandenong area and left school at year 10 but Justice Lex Lasry, passing sentence over the Williams murder, could see there was lost potential.
“You impressed me as intelligent and articulate. Those qualities seem to me to have been wasted on the life you have lived,” Justice Lasry said.
