Abandoned South Yarra car could hold clue in Love Machine drive-by shooting

Blundering killers responsible for the Love Machine drive-by murders are suspected of torching the wrong car, in a mistake that detectives hope will bring an evidence bonanza.

Bungling drive-by killers are suspected of torching the wrong car in what shapes as a major break for police.

Homicide squad detectives investigating the double-fatal shooting at Love Machine nightclub hope their mistake has opened the door to finding crucial forensic evidence.

Today they released footage of a Suzuki Swift which was in the Prahran club precinct around the time Love Machine was sprayed with bullets in the early hours of April 14.

A Suzuki Swift which was seen in the area around the time of the shooting.

It was seen before the shooting travelling in convoy with a Porsche SUV suspected of being used in the ambush.

Security guard Aaron Osmani, 37, and patron Richard Arow, 28, died from injuries suffered when the fatal shots were fired as the stood outside.

A Suzuki Swift was found ablaze in Simmonds St, South Yarra, three days after the drive-by.

That vehicle, owned by visitors from Queensland, was found to not be the car used in the drive-by attack.

web Wrong Car Torched 650 900

But a second silver Suzuki Swift parked nearby in the same street immediately came under scrutiny, possibly because of the fire.

It has been seized by homicide investigators for painstaking forensic testing amid strong suspicions it was the car seen travelling with the Porsche.

Detectives hope it may yield the kind of evidence bonanza those who set it alight were intent on destroying.

One theory is that the blundering shooters - after finding they had killed someone - panicked and returned to the Suzuki to destroy by fire any DNA or other forensic clues.

A Suzuki Swift was torched in Simmonds St, but it wasn’t the one used in the attack.

A Suzuki Swift which was set on fire, but was not the actual car used in the Love Machine drive-by shooting.

MORE NEWS: LAWYER X COMMISSIONER’S LEGAL THREAT

AUSTRALIA’S MURDER HOUSES — ARE THEY NEAR YOU?

In their haste, the may have targeted the wrong Suzuki.

It is also possible others were sent to do the job and that they became confused and set fire to the wrong vehicle.

Police have been told two men in dark clothing got out of a blue Holden Colorado ute on Simmonds Street just before the car fire.

The Colorado then drove off towards Surrey Road, South Yarra.

The Prahran shooting is one of a succession this year suspected of having links to Middle-Eastern organised crime figures.

“They’re so dumb that they’re incredibly dangerous,” one police source who has worked on MEOC groups said.

The Porsche SUV thought to have been used at Love Machine was incinerated less than an hour later at in Highpark Drive at Wollert, north of Melbourne.

Police last week released CCTV of a maroon Ford ute seen in the area which may have been used to ferry those responsible out of Wollert.

The ute has not yet been recovered.

Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or visit the website crimestoppersvic.gov.au