Roberta’s tribute to ‘soul mate’ 13 years after gangland hitman’s death

GANGLAND widow Roberta Williams has taken to social media with a bizarre tribute to her ‘soul mate’, slain hitman Andrew “Benji” Veniamin.

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GANGLAND widow Roberta Williams has paid tribute to her ‘soul mate’, slain hitman Andrew “Benji” Veniamin, 13 years after he was shot dead during Melbourne’s underworld war.

Veniamin was an assassin for her former husband, slain drug boss Carl Williams, in the years before Veniamin was killed in self defence by Mick Gatto in 2004.

“I remember this day, 13 years ago, like it just happened,” Roberta posted on social media.

“Our last phone call the last time you told me “I love you”, the last time you said those 3 words “Happy Birth Day” and the last time I saw your beautiful face.

“Time has not made it easier and I doubt it ever will.”

Roberta, who has long denied an affair with Veniamin, previously described him as her “soul mate”.

“In life you were my world and in my world you are my everything,” she posted with a photo of the smiling killer.

“Saying goodbye to you was the saddest thing I have had to do, but knowing you was the happiest time of my life.”

Post by Roberta Williams for the anniversary of Andrew Veniamin's death

She became close with Williams’ offsider Veniamin, who would help her pick up the kids from school every Tuesday.

The heavily tattooed “gun for hire” had met Gatto at La Porcella restaurant in Carlton for a chat on March 23, 2004 — Roberta’s birthday.

That “chat” soon turned violent, with Gatto claiming Veniamin pulled a gun on him after being told he could no longer be trusted.

The altercation ended in Veniamin’s death — he had been shot multiple times with his own gun and Gatto was charged with his murder.

He was later cleared by a jury who found he acted in self defence.

Veniamin was linked with well-known mobsters The Carlton Crew (which Gatto was a part of) until 2003, when he then became close with the Williams family.

Veniamin was the 23rd person killed during the so-called gangland war which ended in 36 deaths, and was a main suspect for a number of those murders.

He is still the number one suspect in the double killing of Nikolai Radev and Frank Benvenuto who were shot dead while sitting in a parked car in Beaumaris in May 2000.

Not one to shy away from controversy, Roberta has continued to make headlines in the years since her former husband’s death in 2010. He was fatally bashed by a fellow inmate at Barwon Prison.

She launched a compensation bid against the state government over Williams’ death.

The matter was later settled, so that her daughter Dhakota would receive a payout from the government on her 18th birthday.

“Our last phone call, the last time you told me “I love you,” Williams wrote on social media. Picture: Supplied

She’s also known to shop her story around media circles on a regular basis.

In an interview last year, she claimed that her former husband could have committed two more gangland murders.

She told Channel Seven’s Sunday Night that although Williams pleaded guilty to four counts of murder, she believes there were more. Police had charged Williams with the murder of Mark Moran but later dropped the case. He was never charged over the death of Graham ‘The Munster’ Kinniburgh, whose murder he also arranged.

During that same interview Roberta spoke of her rocky relationship with Williams, revealing he once shot at her when she was seven months pregnant.

But she maintained he was “soft and gentle”.

@melissameehanau