Cold Case file remains open on the suspected Mafia slaying of Vincenzo and Alfonso Muratore
COLD CASE FILES: IT'S not often that a son is killed in the same way as his father, setting aside wars and road accidents.
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IT'S not often that a son is killed in the same way as his father, setting aside wars and road accidents.
Which is why two of the most unusual unsolved murders on Victoria Police homicide squad books are those of Vincenzo and Alfonso Muratore.
What is unusual is that the father and son were murdered in remarkably similar circumstances 28 years apart.
Both died after being blasted by a shotgun as they left their Hampton homes in the early hours.
Both worked in the Melbourne wholesale fruit and vegetable market and both were embroiled in Calabrian Mafia affairs.
Muratore senior was deputy leader of the Melbourne Calabrian Mafia cell. More than two decades later, Muratore junior was sounded out by dying Godfather Liborio Benvenuto about his readiness to take over as boss of the same cell.
Two men were charged and acquitted over the murder of Vincenzo Muratore, meaning his murder is still classed as unsolved. Nobody has been charged over the murder of his son Alfonso.
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The Cold Case Files is a database of every unsolved homicide in Victoria since 2000. Search by name, date, location, reward and map, and alert police to clues. Read more reports here.
Just as the killing of Vincenzo Muratore, 42, in 1964 shone a spotlight on illegality at the Victoria Market, the execution of Alfonso Muratore in 1992 again lifted the lid on extortion and other rackets at the wholesale market's new base in Footscray Rd.
Alfonso's killing showed that nothing much had been done to clean up the market or rid it of the Calabrian Mafia.
You don't think you are going to get away with this
What is not entirely clear is whether Alfonso (known to many as Fonse) Muratore, 39, was killed:
A) Because he was attempting to expose a Mafia-run, 50-cents-a-case extortion racket worth millions of dollars a year.
B) Because he left his Calabrian wife for good-looking Aussie aerobics instructor Karen Mansfield.
C) A mix of A and B.
About the Cold Case Files database
The 50-cent racket basically meant Victorians were buying fruit and vegetables at artificially inflated prices - effectively a tax imposed by the Calabrian Mafia - and had been for years.
The biggest buyers from the wholesale market were Coles and Safeway. The supermarket chains didn't want to have to deal with lots of small suppliers and would only buy from preferred suppliers. It was worth a lot of money to be a Coles or Safeway preferred supplier.
The Calabrians were the middlemen, bribing the supermarket buyers to use only preferred suppliers who paid a 50-cents-a-case levy directly to the Calabrian Mafia.
The scam remained undetected for years. The preferred suppliers were guaranteed bulk sales every day, the supermarket buyers were kept happy with kickbacks, and the Calabrian Mafia lined its pockets with millions of dollars.
More about the slaying of Vincenzo Muratore
The biggest losers were the public, who paid higher prices than were necessary. A Coles boss admitted to police the 50-cents-a-case Calabrian Mafia tax cost it at least $5 million a year.
Alfonso Muratore had a meeting with Coles executives a few weeks before he was murdered in 1992. He and another major fruiterer offered to provide Coles with all of its fruit and vegetables at a cheaper rate by not charging suppliers the 50 cents levy - thus cutting the Calabrian Mafia from its long-running and extremely profitable scam.
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Jeopardising business is considered a heinous crime by the Calabrian Mafia - a crime that often carries the death sentence.
But affairs of the heart - especially if they bring shame to a Calabrian Mafia family - can have equally disastrous consequences.
It wasn't just any Italian woman that Alfonso Muratore decided to cheat on. He was married to the daughter of undisputed Calabrian Godfather Liborio Benvenuto - the very same Benvenuto who emerged victorious from the leadership battle that cost Alfonso's father his life in 1964.
Alfonso was 11 when his father was executed. He liked visiting the Victoria Market to see his father at work, and shortly after leaving St Bede's College in Mentone he started working at the Muratore family stall. That brought him into regular contact with the Benvenuto family, and he married Angela Benvenuto on February 2, 1976.
They lived in Reserve Rd, Beaumaris, next door to Angela's brother Frank Benvenuto and just a couple of doors from Liborio and Filomena Benvenuto.
Alfonso Muratore became very close to Liborio Benvenuto. Police later told Alfonso's inquest that he was closer to Liborio Benvenuto than Benvenuto's own sons. Liborio regarded Alfonso as a much better successor than his son Frank. Frank Benvenuto was jealous of Alfonso's relationship with Liborio.
Having an affair was one thing, but when Alfonso Muratore left his wife and moved in with Karen Mansfield, that was a different matter. That was showing disrespect.
One of Liborio Benvenuto's sons, Vincenzo, confirmed this when police spoke to him after Muratore was killed.
“It was common knowledge with my brothers that Fonse was having an affair with Karen,'' he said. “But we all told him to be careful and not to forget where his front door was. By that we meant it all right to play around, but don't forget that you're married.''
They have got you. They have won. The bastards have got you
The Victoria Police homicide squad file on Alfonso Muratore suggests the affair was one of the reasons he might have been murdered.
“The deceased began a sexual relationship with Karen and would secretly see her every chance he got, but was fearful of the Benvenuto family discovering his relationship with her,'' it said.
“Liborio Benvenuto died of natural causes in 1988. It seemed that the passing of Liborio left no incentive for Alfonso to remain at home.
“In Italian circles, a mistress is tolerated as long as the husband stays at home with his wife, but actually leaving the wife is considered an extreme insult to the family and the entire Italian community.
“These circumstances were compounded by the fact that the deceased's wish to leave came so soon after the death of the Benvenuto family figurehead, Liborio. This is also reputed to be an extreme lack of respect for Liborio Benvenuto and the Benvenuto family.''
Karen Mansfield told police she and Muratore were threatened after they moved in together - by Frank Benvenuto and Tom Scriva, who had married into the Benvenuto family.
Scriva had a long history as the Calabrian Mafia's lawyer. He raised more than $6 million in dodgy deals, ripping off some senior Calabrian Mafia members in the months before he died of natural causes in 2000 at the age of 55. His father Michele Scriva was a hitman for the Calabrian Mafia.
“Whilst I was at the market talking to Alfonso, Tom Scriva said to me, ‘You are not allowed anywhere near here. You're not wanted','' Ms Mansfield said in her statement to police.
She said Scriva and Frank Benvenuto asked to meet the couple at a deli in Acland St, St Kilda, in late 1989, shortly after Muratore left his wife.
Watch yourself, or you will be sleeping with the fish
Ms Mansfield said Scriva warned her it would be easy to kill her, and with her out of the way Muratore would move back in with his wife. She said she asked Scriva directly if he was going to kill her and he replied, “Well, it could be arranged'' - and Frank Benvenuto nodded in agreement.
She told police that Scriva warned Muratore: “You are not allowed to do this. You can have a mistress, but you certainly can't ever leave Liborio Benvenuto's daughter Angela. It is not allowed. It is a dishonour to the family and total disrespect to Mr Benvenuto's name and his memory. You'll shame us in front of the Italian community. You don't think you are going to get away with this.''
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Ms Mansfield said her stepfather, Ron Lever, arrived to pick up Muratore to take him to the market about 1.15am on August 4, 1992. She said the two of them had a cuppa and talked before leaving about 1.40am.
“I was awake, because I take ages to go to sleep. I heard the gate shut,'' Ms Mansfield told police.
“I then heard Ron say something to Fonse but I don't know what it was. I then heard two shots in quick succession. The sounds were loud but muffled. The noise was very loud and I felt that it came from my right.
“I then got out of bed and I was screaming out, ‘Fonse, Fonse, Fonse’. At the same time I heard Ron say ‘Oh Fonse'.
“By that stage I was at the front door screaming for Fonse. I then heard Ron yell out, ‘Help, help'. The sound was feeble. I then realised that I had to call D24.
“I saw Ron with the gate opened holding himself up in the gateway. I couldn't get out (Muratore had deadlocked the door on his way out) so I smashed the pane. Then I realised that I had to get the key to open the door. I opened the door and I saw Ron and asked him, ‘Has he been shot? Are you all right?’
“I told Ron that I was going to him and he said, ‘Don't'. I wanted to go to him. I then ran around our car and there was Fonse on the ground with his head facing the driver side with his feet away pointing towards the other side of the street. His right-hand side of his face was facing the ground.
“I am screaming, ‘Fonse please be alive, I love you, hold on'. I tried to feel for his heart and for a pulse. I checked his left arm for a pulse. I did not see any other person in the street nor did I hear any car driving away.
“I was first outside. There was no police or ambulance. A lady from across the road came out and tried to assist me. I pushed her away.
“I just kept calling out ‘Fonse, Fonse'. I was running around yelling out, ‘They have got you. They have won. The bastards have got you'. I kept saying ‘No, no'. I then ran towards the police and said to them, ‘Help him, help him'.''
Alfonso Muratore died almost instantly, just as his father Vincenzo had 28 years earlier. Alfonso was carrying a gun, but didn't get time to pull the .22 Jennings self-loading pistol from inside his jacket.
An autopsy revealed he was hit twice by shotgun blasts at close range. One blast hit him on the left side of his head and the second hit him in the left forearm.
Ron Lever told police he heard the gunman shout, “Gotcha'' as he shot Muratore before Lever himself was shot in the leg.
Ms Mansfield said people she knew at the wholesale market told her within days of the murder that Frank Benvenuto had ordered the death of Muratore.
That theory was aired at the Muratore inquest, which started in May 1993 and sat for 10 days before deputy state coroner Iain West adjourned it to enable police to make further investigations. The inquest resumed on April 5, 1995, and the coroner handed down his finding eight days later.
Frank Benvenuto was interviewed by homicide squad detectives on the day Alfonso Muratore was murdered. He said he had no idea who killed him, but was quite happy to ignore the old adage of not speaking ill of the dead.
“One thing which used to really annoy me about Alfonso was his habit of making outlandish remarks to people,'' Benvenuto said in his statement to police.
“He would also say things to people such as, ‘Watch yourself, or you will be sleeping with the fish.’ He would also say things such as, ‘Be careful or you will be counting your fingers.’
“Now that Alfonso has died, I cannot think of anyone specifically that I could say would have wanted him dead. But with his unusual habits and mannerisms in threatening and being abusive towards people, it doesn't really surprise me that he has been killed.''
The coroner handed down his finding in the Muratore inquest on April 13, 1995.
“The evidence before the inquest does not permit a finding as to the identity of any person who contributed to the cause of death,'' the coroner said. “The homicide squad file into the death of Alfonso Muratore remains active.''
Leaving the Godfather's daughter was a serious line of inquiry in the killing of Alfonso Muratore.
But Muratore's attempt to foil the Calabrian Mafia's 50-cents-a-case racket was just as intriguing.
In July 1992 - two weeks before Muratore was killed - the rort was discussed at a meeting organised by Jacobus Smit, property developer, then owner of Melbourne's Top of the Town brothel, and subsequent business partner of crime boss Tony Mokbel.
Smit invited Muratore, another influential market identity and a management team from Coles Myer to a room at Melbourne's Park Royal Hotel.
The Coles team had been secretly set up to investigate corruption allegations within the company - specifically the extortion racket run by the Calabrian Mafia and the involvement of Coles staff in it.
So concerned about security were the Coles team members that they engaged former Victoria Police officer Bernie Elliot to conduct external surveillance before, during and after the meeting. A Coles manager also took an electronic counter-surveillance receiver into the room to detect any bugging equipment. He kept it running throughout the five-hour meeting.
Muratore and the other market identity named names during the meeting.
It was common knowledge that the Coles buyers were crooked
They detailed how the Calabrian Mafia was extorting sellers at the market, thus forcing Coles to pay more for its fruit and vegetables than it should. A plan was outlined under which Coles would deal exclusively with Muratore and those close to him.
Also present at the secretive meeting was a former Victoria Police officer with 15 years’ experience in intelligence gathering and analysis, who had worked with the Australian Bureau of Criminal Intelligence in Canberra for a several years. He was hired by Coles to work with the in-house corruption investigation team.
The former intelligence officer took very detailed notes during the meeting. Those notes named some of the Calabrian Mafia figures running the market racket and identified several of the Coles staff allegedly taking kickbacks. They also named some very high profile Melbourne businessmen who were either allegedly involved in the 50-cents-a-case scam or knew about it and did nothing to stop it - possibly through fear. The notes also said the racket was into at least its third decade.
Homicide squad detectives later interviewed those present at the meeting. They obtained the meticulous notes of the former intelligence officer and set about interviewing those named.
The homicide squad built up an accurate picture of how the racket worked and who was involved, but had difficulty getting people to agree to give evidence. No charges were ever laid, although some corrupt Coles staff were sacked. Several of those who could have testified received death threats, including a man who in 2006 held a prominent role in AFL football.
Sen-Det Geoff Beanland, of the homicide squad, warned in a letter written 10 days before the Muratore inquest started in May 1993 that lives would be at risk if the identities of those who were assisting police were revealed.
The letter, forwarded by the head of the homicide squad to the coroner, named four prominent figures who received death threats after talking to police about the extortion racket. Sen-Det Beanland's letter said the families of two of them had also been threatened. It also named two other police witnesses who had provided confidential and damaging information in relation to criminal matters involving Calabrian Mafia figures and Coles staff.
“There is no doubt that pressure will ultimately be applied from various factions on witnesses in order to stop them giving evidence,'' Sen-Det Beanland's letter said.
It identified a Coles employee who was “shot at his home after resisting illegal activities in the retail sector of Coles Myer'' and warned: “Similar fears are held for the above witnesses who have exposed criminal activity.''
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Sen-Det Beanland's letter named seven police witnesses he considered would be particularly at risk if they were identified as they had helped police with information relating to the Calabrian Mafia extortion racket and who was running and participating in it.
The Herald Sun has obtained the police statements of those seven witnesses, but has decided not to identify them because of the stated risk to them.
One of the seven police witnesses subjected to death threats was a major Victorian fruit and vegetable trader.
He told police his company was already supplying Coles with a vast amount of produce when a prominent Calabrian Mafia figure (who he named) approached him with instructions as to which Melbourne market stall holders he should get his produce from.
His police statement said he refused to get involved. “I told him that we had never done business like this before,'' the statement said.
The Calabrian Mafia figure told the man he would suddenly find his company having difficulty selling to Coles if he didn't buy from who he was told to buy from.
That threat proved correct within days, as the Coles quality checker allegedly started knocking back all fruit and vegies supplied by the police witness.
“If we bought the best produce for the best price in the market he would send it back because we did not purchase it from the preferred supplier,'' his police statement said.
“He would simply say it was not good enough. You can always find something that you can say, it's not good enough. For example, it might be because of the grade or the size. If you want to be picky you can find fault with any produce purchased.''
The man admitted he caved in to pressure from the Calabrian Mafia and started buying from stall holders who paid the 50-cents-a-case Mafia tax.
As if by magic, the Coles quality checker suddenly started accepting all the produce the man supplied.
“It was common knowledge that the Coles buyers were crooked,'' the man told police.
His statement to police named the Calabrian Mafia figure who demanded he buy from certain stalls. It said that after the deal was done the mafioso warned him, “I'll shoot you'' if he tried to renege on it.
“I couldn't see any other way other than to go along with what he wanted. If we lost the contract to supply Coles it would have been real financial hardship for us,'' the trader said.
“Basically we would buy from whoever we were told to buy from. I basically told him that we would play the game the way he wanted us to play. Basically we had to purchase produce from suppliers that they nominated.''
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He said his involvement alone in the racket (and there were others doing what he was doing) was later estimated by a senior Coles executive to have earned the Calabrian Mafia more than $2 million dollars a year.
Another Coles executive made a statement to police in which he estimated the Calabrian Mafia racket was costing the company about $5 million a year.
He told police he contacted a senior executive at Safeway to compare notes on the extortion racket.
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“This meeting took place on the 12th of October, 1991. At this meeting he told me about the 50-cents-a-case levy,'' the Coles executive said.
He told police the Safeway executive named two Calabrian Mafia identities as being among those collecting the 50-cents-a-case tax from stall holders at the market. The Safeway executive also identified four Coles staff who were allegedly assisting the Calabrian Mafia in the racket.
The Safeway executive said sources at the market, fed up with being ripped off, told him about the racket involving Coles.
“We were told that a 50-cent-a-case levy was being paid on all produce being supplied to Coles,'' he said in a statement to police.
One of the Coles executives who attended the secret meeting at the Park Royal Hotel said Muratore told him the racket had been going on since Liborio Benvenuto became the Godfather in the 1960s. In those days it was 25 cents a case - that's inflation for you.
