By the time Andrew “Benji” Veniamin confronted Mick Gatto at the back of his Carlton restaurant on this day 20 years ago, the hitman had become a liability to a growing list of enemies and anyone who had done “business” with him.
John Latorre was a friendly Epping greengrocer to those who didn’t really know him, and a capo in the mafia to those who did. But even captains have a boss, and when the big bucks stop, the buck stops with someone.
For Middle-Eastern organised crime groups embroiled in a vicious war over Melbourne’s illicit tobacco trade, revenge has become a more potent motivation than profit.
No one wants to spell out the bitter truth in cases like Samantha Murphy’s disappearance — when people vanish for more than a few days, the odds against their return grow longer with every hour.
Laurie Larmer, now 98, was just 21 when he skippered a bomber during WWII and learnt he would not have a funeral if he died.
A slug, Brett Sutton and accusations of a slimy cover-up. Claims of a high-level plot to crush a family’s food business look headed for court.
Malcolm Turnbull’s mentor Neville Wran is part of the murky chain leading back to the Luna Park ghost train cover up.
Abe Saffron, the evil man linked to Luna Park’s fatal Ghost Train fire, had a long history of ‘silencing’ people, Andrew Rule tells.
Former Olympian Nathan Baggaley could “do a Bradbury” and skate around criminal charges.
This rugged 4WD is owned by thousands of Aussies, including hundreds of high country hunters — and it’s helping police close in on a suspect in the case of the missing campers.
Harold Janman trying to pick up women at bus stops doesn’t make him the Tynong North killer. But the fact he lied about it might.
Ex-cop Joe Noonan has seen enough young dead people to last a few lifetimes — his tough new book is about how violent death deeply affected a lawman.
Sean Buckley the enigmatic UltraTune tycoon has been hard to miss this year. With skin is so tight, his hair so black and his teeth so white that wags have dubbed him “Waxworks”, who is he?
Insiders from a Melbourne-based Christian sect claim followers were urged to live in poverty and donate organs.
Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/andrew-rule/page/14