Innocent father gunned down in bikie hit on wrong man, police believe
Why would someone want to shoot dead an innocent father as he drove his fruit truck on EastLink? Police believe they have the answer.
Victoria
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Police believe fruiterer Paul Virgona may have been shot dead after being mistaken for his bikie neighbour amid an escalating feud between the Mongols and Finks.
The 46-year-old father was killed in his fruit van while driving to work on the EastLink in the early hours of November 9, 2019.
Two patched Mongols, Josh Rider, 30, and Aaron Ong, 35, are facing court charged with his murder but new information has revealed police believe Mr Virgona may have been shot as a result of mistaken identity.
It’s understood that Mr Virgona lived in very close proximity to a Finks member, who was the intended target of the shooting.
Police sources say the murder came at a time when the Mongols and Finks were in conflict and followed months of tit-for-tat shootings between members of the two gangs.
Police now believe the shooting was an attempt at retaliation for an earlier attack.
On July 11, 2019 – four months before Mr Virgona was killed – a Finks member turned up at Casey Hospital suffering gunshot wounds in a crime that remains unsolved.
However, police believe the Mongols are responsible.
Then, possibly in retaliation, on August 1, two Finks members launched a surprise attack on the vice-president of the Mongols’ Melbourne chapter, shooting him several times.
Two Finks have been charged with attempted murder over that shooting and a third charged with accessory after the fact. The matter is before the courts.
It’s understood tensions between the Finks and the Mongols are ongoing.
It’s not clear who fired the fatal shots.
The court matter against Rider and Ong continues.
Police have not revealed the names of those involved in the conflict before the Virgona shooting.
But senior Fink Sione Hokafonu was shot outside the Fountain Gate Hotel on July 10, 2019.
Hokafonu, who was later treated at hospital, had been at the pub watching a State of Origin rugby league match with mates when he was shot in a leg soon after he left.
Police later said he was unable to help them with their inquiries.
On August 1, 2019, senior Mongols member Rocco Curra was lucky to survive a shooting ambush outside a Burke St, Bulleen, house.
Hokafonu, 26, and Ali Hussein, 24, were last year charged with attempted murder over that incident.
It has been alleged that a woman associated with the pair invited Curra to a rendezvous in Burke St before gunmen arrived in a BMW and opened fire.
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