Aaron Ong accused of killing fruiterer Paul Virgona on EastLink Freeway

A man accused of shooting fruiterer Paul Virgona as he drove along EastLink says the police have the wrong guy.

Aaron Ong has pleaded not guilty to murder of Paul Virgona.

A man accused of the EastLink killing of fruiterer Paul Virgona says the police have the wrong guy.

Aaron Ong is on trial in Victoria’s Supreme Court for the murder of Mr Virgona, 46, whose van was pummelled with bullets as he drove along the freeway to Epping market at 2.15am on November 9, 2019.

But his barrister Mark Gumbleton told the jury on Tuesday: “They’ve got the wrong bloke. It’s not him.”

Dr Gumbleton said he would not dispute that there were two people in the Mercedes and that they followed Mr Virgona before discharging the shots.

“Our defence is that Ong was not either of the two people in the Mercedes at the time the weapon was discharged,” Dr Gumbleton said.

Pointing to Mr Ong sitting in the courtroom, Dr Gumbleton added: “He says he wasn’t there. He doesn’t know who was in the car.”

Paul Virgona was shot dead during the highway execution.

Mr Ong, 37, from Chirnside Park, has pleaded not guilty to murder.

Crown prosecutor Mark Gibson earlier alleged Mr Ong was in the car and committed the “carefully planned, carefully implemented” execution with associate Joshua Rider.

Mr Gibson said the two men were “associated” with a motorcycle club, and CCTV showed them leaving the club’s Port Melbourne premises together the night before the shooting at 10.25pm.

The security footage was played to the jury on Tuesday as part of an hour-long video compilation, which also showed the Mercedes closely following Mr Virgona’s van in the minutes leading up to the deadly shootout.

Video of the Mercedes, after the shooting, being driven into Jaxlee Court in Mooroolbark, where the occupants had earlier left an Amarok ute as a getaway car, was also shown.

An explosion could be heard on the video, with a bright flash, indicating the moment the Mercedes was allegedly set alight in a paddock, before two men could be seen running and jumping into the Amarok and driving off.

A police patrol car soon after began to pursue the Amarok, with it running a red light and reaching speeds of up to 150km/h, before it collided with a give-way sign on the Mountain Highway in Bayswater.

The two accused then fled on foot, jumping over a fence and into Marie Wallace Bayswater Park.

Because it was dark in the park, the two pursuing police officers remained with the abandoned vehicle, the court heard, and called for back up, including a canine unit.

The men were not tracked down on that night – but the court heard two bags were found dropped near the fence they climbed to escape.

One of those was a black and white Culture Kings duffel bag, which police allege belonged to Mr Ong.

Inside it, the court heard, was a black Nike top which they say Mr Ong was observed wearing when he hours earlier left the motorcycle club.

There was also a $5 note and a partially eaten Kit Kat wrapper in the pocket of a pair of tracksuit pants.

Mr Gibson said DNA swabs taken from the bag’s strap, Nike shirt, the chocolate bar wrapper and the pants, showed Mr Ong was “more likely” the contributor.

The trial, before Justice Christopher Beale, will return on Thursday.