Melbourne gangland: Mark Moran’s reputation no good against a bullet

MARK Moran was supposedly a pastry chef and personal trainer, until that story was blown away with a shotgun in one of the first shots of Melbourne’s gangland war.

FOR a bloke who listed his occupation as a pastry chef, Carlton Crew acolyte Mark Moran must have been moving a fair few croissants on the side.

Despite never seeming to work legitimately, the menacing underworld identity drove a decent set of wheels, lived in a plush million dollar home and led a life of leisure.

Also registered as a personal trainer, Mark Moran was hiding behind his so-called credentials.

Fine pastries and early-morning boot camps weren’t actually Mark’s cup of tea.

The manufacture and sale of designer drugs was his proven trade.

Mark was the product of Judy Moran and a hard crook named Les Cole.

Mark’s half brother, Jason Moran, was Judy’s second born; sired by money-loving local criminal Lewis Moran.

Both boys grew up under the influence of Painters & Dockers Union heavies and established themselves as gangland figures not to be crossed.

Their heavy reputations, however, would not go on to render them bulletproof.

A handy local footballer, Mark Moran was no stranger to many Carlton Football Club players.

His maternal grandfather Leo Brooks worked as a Blues team assistant during the ‘70s and early ‘80s, opening the door to such relationships.

In late 1988, Mark Moran was suspected of having driven two bandits to a payroll van heist during which a guard was shot dead.

That heist caused a ripple effect that, many still believe, led to the revenge murders of two young police officers in Walsh Street, South Yarra.

Many years later, Mark and Jason Moran were running a very profitable speed and ecstasy syndicate.

Their business came into direct conflict with a breakaway faction run by former Moran errand boy Carl Williams, who liked to undercut the opposition with cheap and shabby product.

When his end came, Mark Moran, like his father, was ambushed outside the front of his home.

Mark Moran was ambushed in similar fashion to his criminal father.

The day of June 15, 2000, started unremarkably.

Moran went to the gym, had breakfast with mum Judy in Moonee Ponds, then arranged a new muffler for his Holden utility.

After a shopping trip with his mum he then met his wife for a late lunch and later picked up his young kids from school.

That evening, Moran met a drug buyer at Gladstone Park Shopping Centre to sell him some cannabis, but forgot to take the gear.

“I was going to buy about one ounce of cannabis from Mark and intended to pay $200,” the drug buyer later said in a police statement.

“I was surprised that Mark didn’t have the smoke for me because when we make a meeting like this he usually has what I need.

“We arranged to meet again the next day at Westfield Shopping Centre. We normally would meet at the fruit juice stall in the food court.

“I asked Mark to get me some ‘eggies’ (ecstasy tablets) for the weekend and he said he would get them for me. I asked him for about ten for my personal use.

“I was aware that Mark could get his hands on the ‘eggies’ no problem. I have previously purchased ‘eggies’ from him and on one occasion back in December or January I bought a thousand tablets from him which cost me $19,000. It was $19 for each tablet.

“When I say ‘eggies’ I am referring to ecstasy tablets.”

After the failed deal in Gladstone Park, Moran returned home and spoke to a friend on the phone about football tickets for the weekend Carlton game.

He then left home for another meeting.

Moran, aged 35, was getting into his car outside his Aberfeldie mansion when shotgun blasts smacked him down.

He ended lying across his front seats, his head resting against the passenger door.

Mark Moran’s legs protrude from his car after he was shot dead. Picture: Simon Dallinger

Shotgun pellets peppered Moran’s car and shattered a window. Picture: Simon Dallinger

“When I looked out the window,” one neighbour told police, “I noticed the driver door open and the interior light was on. The male lifted one of his legs, I think it was his left.

“He put it back down and lifted his right arm. It looked like blood on his arm.”

The neighbour’s mother, a nurse, rushed to the car in an attempt to help.

“I could see that there was blood coming from his nose and mouth and because of the angle of his head, the blood had run into his eyes and face and hair.

“I noticed that his eyes were open and at this point I realised that he was deceased.”

Moran’s Gucci watch ticked midnight when paramedics and a coroner pronounced him dead.

Police found a foil of cocaine and a bag containing 1.2 grams of speed in his pockets.

IN the days following the shooting, one of Moran’s right hand men paid a visit to the drug customer who’d met with Moran at Gladstone Park Shopping Centre on the night of the murder.

“He came to my house and told me that Lewis had asked him to ask me how much I owed,” the drug buyer said in his police statement.

“He said to me (I owed them for buying) five pounds. I said that he had to be joking as I could never buy one pound of speed (let alone five).

“He said that he was just passing on the message and he would let Lewis know. He said that everything Mark had written down (about the syndicate’s drug sales) was in code and they couldn’t work out who owed Mark money and how much.

“The thousand ecstasy tablets that I purchased from Mark around December were purchased on credit — this was $19,000.

“At the time that Mark died, I had paid back $15,000 of that debt and there was only $4000 left owing. I have known Mark for a lot of years and I considered him a friend.

“There is absolutely no way that I had any involvement in Mark’s murder or arranging anyone to kill Mark. I agree that I owed him money but Mark was not putting pressure on me to repay.”

While death notices painted Mark Moran as a loyal friend and loving father, Detective Insp. Brian Rix, of the homicide squad, said: “Mark fancied himself as a bit of a heavy. People who deal in underworld activities, nefarious activities most of us don’t get involved in ... they live in a different world to us and violence isn’t uncommon to them.

“Some people make big money out of underworld activities — be it drugs, or property or whatever.

“That leads to greed, that leads to jealousies and I’m sure that will continue in one form or another.”

Jason Moran (wearing the sunglasses) was allowed day release while serving a prison term to act as pallbearer at half-brother Mark’s funeral. Picture: Craig Hughes

Moran family associate Bert Wrout, who spent a lot of time knocking around with Lewis Moran, — and who was later shot and wounded when Lewis was murdered in March 2004 — told this reporter that Mark Moran had an understated menace.

“Compared to Jason, Mark was the harder one,” Wrout said.

“Lewis was devastated (when Mark was gunned down). He’d lost his right-hand man.”

Back in 1999, Jason Moran had wounded Carl Williams by shooting him in the belly.

That shooting sparked a fuse that caused major explosions within Melbourne’s underworld.

A tit-for-tat gangland war, instigated by Williams, ensued for many years and claimed more than 20 lives.

Mark Moran went down as one of that war’s first casualties.

His half brother, step dad and other associates were destined to follow.

Detectives charged Carl Williams with Mark Moran’s murder.

But that charge and others were eventually dropped when Williams pleaded guilty to the murders of Jason and Lewis Moran and another drug rival named Mark Mallia.

Bert Wrout remains puzzled why the Moran family did not seek immediate revenge after Mark’s demise.

If they had acted and retaliated, he said, the gangland war would not have rolled on as it did.

“All I can think of is why the bloody hell did not the Moran crew retaliate immediately?” Wrout said.

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