Mafia mobster is suspected of murdering Giuseppe “Joe” Arena during the battle to be Godfather
A PROMINENT Italian mobster with many seemingly legitimate Victorian businesses is suspected of murdering his rival during a fight to be Godfather decades ago.
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A PROMINENT Italian mobster with many seemingly legitimate Victorian businesses is suspected of so far getting away with murdering a leadership rival decades ago.
It is 30 years since Giuseppe “Joe” Arena was executed soon after he was anointed to become the boss of Melbourne’s powerful Calabrian mafia cell.
Despite being a convicted killer, Arena’s happy demeanour led to fellow Italian secret society members nicknaming him “The Friendly Godfather” — although he never lived long enough to actually take charge.
The Herald Sun is today revealing that high on the list of suspects for the unsolved murder of Arena is a feared man who is now a very influential figure in the Australian branch of the Italian organised crime gang.
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Police were told this Melbourne-based Calabrian was convinced he would make a better Godfather than Arena.
Underworld figures who were close to Arena believe the ambitious Mafioso mobster took deadly steps to remove his rival from the running for the top job by either shooting Arena himself or paying a trusted hitman to do it.
The Victoria Police homicide squad hasn’t given up on catching the killer — and there is a $100,000 reward for information leading to a prosecution.
“We remain committed to solving this case,” homicide squad Detective Inspector Andrew Stamper told the Herald Sun yesterday.
“We know that one piece of information can turn an investigation and I appeal to anyone who might know something about this appalling crime to come forward.”
The execution of the Friendly Godfather
Calabrian-born Arena, 50, and his wife Maria, 43 at the time, returned to their home in Bona Vista Rd, Bayswater, from a wedding shortly after midnight on August 1, 1988.
She went into the house through the back door while he took the rubbish bin from the back of the house to the front nature strip for the usual Monday morning collection.
Arena was walking along the path leading from the back gate to a patio in the back garden when he was hit with a single shotgun blast in the back — a traditional Calabrian method of death with dishonour.
He was still alive when his shocked wife ran out after hearing a loud noise.
She told police she thought her husband had had a heart attack when she saw him lying face down on the path.
“I bent down, squatting down, and I remember wiping the blood away from his nose and mouth so he wouldn’t breathe it in. He was still breathing at the time,” Maria Arena said.
“I was hysterical, crying and very upset. I thought that Joe was still alive when the ambulance men arrived.
“The ambulance people said that it was too late for the hospital and I was taken inside the house. This was the last time I saw Joe.”
The prominent Calabrian mafia identity who might have pulled the trigger on Arena isn’t the only suspect, but he remains a strong one.
Detectives were told decades ago that he was angry at being overlooked in the 1980s when the then undisputed Melbourne Calabrian mafia Godfather, Liborio Benvenuto, knowing he was dying of cancer, began his succession planning.
The Calabrian mafia in Australia
Calabria is in the toe of southern Italy and is the world headquarters of the Italian ‘Ndrangheta.
‘Ndrangheta is known by some Italians as L’Onorata Societa (the Honoured Society) or La Famiglia (The Family).
It is simply called the mafia by most in Australia, or the Calabrian mafia to differentiate it from the Sicilian mafia.
‘Ndrangheta eclipsed the Sicilian mafia in the 1990s to become the most powerful crime syndicate in Italy and its tentacles stretch around the world.
The Calabrian mafia has had a powerful presence in Victoria, with strong cells in Melbourne, Shepparton and Mildura in particular, and elsewhere in Australia, especially in Griffith, New South Wales, since at least the 1930s.
Liborio Benvenuto was keen to avoid the bloodshed that followed the death of the previous Melbourne Godfather, Domenico “The Pope” Italiano in 1962.
When Italiano and his enforcer, Antonio “The Toad” Barbara, died within weeks of each other — both of natural causes — a vacuum was created at the top of the secret society.
The ensuing power struggle resulted in the killings of Calabrian-born Melbourne mobsters Vincenzo Angilletta and Vincenzo Muratore.
Their deaths in 1963 and 1964 became known as the Victoria Market Murders.
Liborio Benvenuto, a Victoria Market stallholder at the time, eventually won the bloody battle to take over as Godfather of Melbourne’s Calabrian mafia cell — a position he held until he died of natural causes at the age of 62 in 1988.
Police intelligence files seen by the Herald Sun rated Liborio Benvenuto as about the fourth most senior member of the Calabrian mafia in Australia at the time of his death.
After doctors diagnosed Liborio Benvenuto with cancer, giving him just a short time to live, he attempted a peaceful handover of the coveted Godfather position to somebody of his choice.
The first to be sounded out by Benvenuto was his son-in-law, Alfonso Muratore, the son of the Vincenzo Muratore shot dead during the Victoria Market Murders.
Alfonso married Liborio Benvenuto’s daughter Angela in 1976. They lived in Reserve Rd, Beaumaris, next door to Angela’s brother Frank Benvenuto and just a couple of doors from Liborio and Filomena Benvenuto.
Liborio Benvenuto and Alfonso Muratore became very close, so much so that Frank Benvenuto — who was murdered in 2000 in an execution that remains unsolved — was jealous of the relationship and resented the fact his father approached Alfonso about taking over as Godfather.
It was during the 1980s meeting between Liborio Benvenuto and Alfonso Muratore that the pair agreed amicably between them that Alfonso wasn’t quite ready to take on the prestigious role of Melbourne Calabrian mafia boss.
That was probably just as well as the disrespectful actions of Alfonso Muratore a year after Liborio Benvenuto died would have had his father in law turning in his grave.
Alfonso Muratore left Liborio Benvenuto’s daughter Angela and moved in with his mistress, Australian public relations consultant Karen Mansfield, in 1989.
Three years later, Muratore was murdered in circumstances very similar to the cold case execution of his father Vincenzo 28 years earlier — both died after being blasted by a shotgun as they left their Hampton homes in the early hours to head for the Melbourne wholesale fruit and vegetable market and both cases remain unsolved.
Affair led to murder
The Victoria Police homicide squad file on Alfonso Muratore’s murder suggests his affair with Ms Mansfield was one of the reasons he might have been murdered.
“The deceased began a sexual relationship with Karen and would secretly see her every chance he got, but was fearful of the Benvenuto family discovering his relationship with her,” it said.
“Liborio Benvenuto died of natural causes in 1988. It seemed that the passing of Liborio left no incentive for Alfonso to remain at home.
“In Italian circles, a mistress is tolerated as long as the husband stays at home with the wife, but actually leaving the wife is considered an extreme insult to the family and the entire Italian community.
“These circumstances were compounded by the fact the deceased’s wish to leave came so soon after the death of the Benvenuto family figurehead, Liborio.
“This is also reputed to be an extreme lack of respect for Liborio Benvenuto and the Benvenuto family.”
Next on Liborio Benvenuto’s list of prospective Godfathers — after deciding Alfonso Muratore wasn’t the man to replace him — was Giuseppe “Joe” Arena.
Arena was already a much respected man in Calabrian mafia ranks and was particularly admired for his money laundering skills.
Evidence suggests Arena was summoned to a meeting by Liborio Benvenuto and during it they agreed Arena would take over from Benvenuto after Benvenuto’s looming death.
But Liborio Benvenuto’s hopes of a peaceful handover to Arena were shattered when Arena was shot dead on August 1, 1988, six weeks after Benvenuto died.
One of the murder suspects was a member of a rival Calabrian mafia faction who was angry Benvenuto hand-picked Arena to take over.
That rival has since cemented his place in the secret society’s hierarchy and is today considered by police to be one of the most powerful Calabrian mafia leaders in Australia.
Other suspects in the murder
Detectives have been given several other names over the years as suspects for executing Arena.
Underworld identity Mick Gatto went public a decade after Arena’s death to deny he was involved.
Mr Gatto told Herald Sun reporter Mark Buttler in September 1998 he was shocked by a media report pointing the finger at him over the 1988 slaying of Arena and that his father was a good friend of Arena and that he also knew Arena.
“I passed on my respects (to the Arenas) and told them I knew nothing about it,” Mr Gatto said.
“They were quite shocked to hear that my name had been mentioned.”
Police haven’t been able to rule out Arena’s murder being a vendetta killing, although the investigation hasn’t discovered any evidence of this being the motive.
The Calabrian and Sicilian mafias have long followed the motto that revenge is a dish best served cold; with enemies being murdered many years after that enemy has committed a crime against the mafia.
It can involve the son of a murder victim killing the person who executed his father, even though the son was only a toddler at the time his father died.
The hairdresser and the wife
In the case of the 1988 murder of Arena, it is possible a relative of hairdresser Modestino Spada did it as a revenge killing after Arena shogun blasted Spada, 28, to death in 1976.
Arena had befriended Spada and helped him find accommodation after he arrived from Italy in 1974.
A Victoria Police written summary prepared for the coroner detailed the circumstances of Spada’s death and revealed Arena came home unexpectedly at lunch time on February 27, 1976, to find Spada and his wife Maria in a compromising position in the dining room — Spada’s fly was undone.
“From their actions and his observations he suspected that they had been having an affair,” the police summary said.
“The deceased then had a short conversation with Arena and left the house.
“After this, Arena questioned his wife about her behaviour and she admitted that she had been involved with the deceased on one or two occasions.
“Arena then took a shotgun from his bedroom cupboard, together with four shotgun cartridges, and went to find Spada.
“He went to Dandenong (where Spada’s hairdressing salon was), but owing to the amount of people around he decided not to shoot him there, but wait for him to be alone.”
Arena, still furious, went back home to again confront his wife — who he married in 1963 when she was only 18 and he was 25 — about her affair with Spada.
“He started calling me filthy names and abusing me,” Maria Arena told police.
“Then I tried to talk to him to explain how it all happened.
“He just got very wild and hit me around the head and face and then he said ‘I’m going to shoot either him or you or both of us’ or something and then just stormed out.”
The police summary revealed Arena arrived on Spada’s doorstep about 10.30pm.
“Arena attended at Spada’s house in Bayswater and prior to going inside he loaded two cartridges into the gun and placed it outside near the front porch,” it said.
Arena later gave police a dramatic account of what happened after he entered the Ozone Rd house, which was the home of Spada’s landlord, Benedetto Palone and his wife Maria Palone.
He said after chatting to the Palones and Spada, who was known as Serg, he lured Spada outside by telling him he had some house plans in his car that he wanted Spada to look at.
“I said I had better go home as I haven’t had my tea yet,” Arena told police.
“Then Serg said he would come outside and he would walk me to the car.
“When we got past the corner of the house I said ‘hang on’ and he kept on walking.
“But when he saw me getting the gun he turned side on to me and started to run sideways, away from me.
“I cocked the two hammers on the gun and I had both fingers in the trigger.
“I lifted the gun to my waist. The gun was pointing in his direction and I cocked and pulled the triggers nearly at the same time.
“He collapsed, he went down and he was yelling out for Ben and they both came out, the husband and wife, but I just took off then.”
Arena fled to his holiday house on Phillip Island, which is where police arrested him early the following morning.
He was found guilty of murdering Spada and initially jailed for life.
Arena appealed and won a retrial and was acquitted of murder, but jailed for five years and ordered to serve a minimum of 27 months after being convicted of manslaughter.
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Arena did forgive his wife’s infidelity and returned to live with her and their three children when he was released from prison in 1979 after serving his minimum 27 month term for killing Spada.
Evidence gathered by police since then strongly suggests it was mafia business as much as insurance business that kept Arena away from home for so many hours each week.
His particular skill was money laundering, a talent various Mafioso made use of over the years.
Arena ignored the advice of the sentencing judge not to have anything to do with guns again.
The police summary prepared for Arena’s 1992 inquest revealed Arena had a least one weapon, a .25 calibre Browning pistol — and police believe it was supplied to Arena by one of Melbourne’s biggest drug dealers.
“A few days before his death, the deceased went to the home a friend, Mr Cossimo Luppino, and gave him a pistol wrapped in rags, asking him to keep it for a few days,” it said.
“He gave no explanation and Mr Luppino did not ask for one.
“After the death, police were informed on the whereabouts of the pistol and retrieved it from Mr Luppino.
“The person who was the source of the information has been eliminated from the investigation.”
Mr Luppino, of Bryden Drive, Ferntree Gully, who said he had known Arena for 30 years, ever since he arrived in Australia from Italy, was questioned about the gun by Senior Constable Jenny Moss-Newport during the Arena inquest.
SENIOR CONSTABLE MOSS-NEWPORT: “When he came to your house and gave you the pistol, did you not think it was strange?”
LUPPINO: “He not told me nothing.”
SENIOR CONSTABLE MOSS-NEWPORT: “If he was just selling insurance, would it not be strange that he would have a pistol?”
LUPPINO: “I don’t know.”
SENIOR CONSTABLE MOSS-NEWPORT: “You did not think to ask why he was giving you this?”
LUPPINO: “ No, I no think to do this.”
SENIOR CONSTABLE MOSS-NEWPORT: “You think that this was quite normal for Joe to come and give you a pistol?”
LUPPINO: “Yeah, yes.”
SENIOR CONSTABLE MOSS-NEWPORT: “What do you know about Joe that he would need to have a pistol for?”
LUPPINO: “I don’t know nothing about Joe.”
SENIOR CONSTABLE MOSS-NEWPORT: “He knew to come and give you the pistol?”
LUPPINO: “Yeah, maybe think by himself that, to give it to me for a few days and then come back and pick it up.”
SENIOR CONSTABLE MOSS-NEWPORT: “I suggest to you, Mr Luppino, you know more about this than you are telling the court.”
LUPPINO: “I know nothing.”
SENIOR CONSTABLE MOSS-NEWPORT: “And that you are deliberately saying you know nothing to avoid telling what is the truth. I suggest to you, Mr Luppino, that you know more about Joe’s involvement and associations than you are telling the court.”
LUPPINO: “No, no, no, nothing. I know he’s a friend of mine long years with the family, you know, that’s all I know myself.”
SENIOR CONSTABLE MOSS-NEWPORT: “Has anyone who knows Joe spoken to you about this?”
LUPPINO: “ No, no.”
SENIOR CONSTABLE MOSS-NEWPORT: “And what to say about the pistol?”
LUPPINO: “No, no one did tell me nothing.”
The then homicide squad Detective Senior Constable Sol Solomon gave evidence at Arena’s inquest and said he was frustrated by the lack of information being provided to police and by the “wall of silence” detectives were up against when questioning Arena’s associates — particularly the Italian ones.
He told the Herald Sun in 1992 he knew about the Calabrian mafia code of silence, known as “Omerta”, before Arena’s murder.
“I had read about it, but until the Arena case I had never been confronted with this code of silence,” Sen-Det Solomon said.
“It was so frustrating to try and get through to some people.
“We know that some who were close to Arena just washed their hands of him once he was dead.
“They must have known something.”
Sen-Det Solomon said one man who police knew was one of Arena’s closest friends simply refused to acknowledge any friendship when quizzed by detectives.
“He said that Joe was just his insurance broker and they were not friends, but we know they were quite close,” he said.
Sen-Det Solomon gave evidence at Arena’s inquest about Arena’s money laundering.
“Inquiries have established that on Wednesday, 27th July, 1988 (just a few days before Arena was murdered) the deceased travelled in the company of Gesualdo Maggiore to Mildura to meet with a close associate by the name of Antonio Cufari,” he told the inquest.
“Cufari resides at Walnut Ave, Mildura and is the part owner of a hotel in Mildura knows as the Mediterranean Motor Inn.
“The deceased and Cufari had been close associates for approximately five years.
“As a result of inquiries made into the financial affairs of the deceased it has been established that in 1986 and 1988 he was involved in a number of monetary transactions with Antonio Cufari.
“On August 9, 1986, the deceased attended at the offices of Michael Lanteri, solicitor of Michael Lanteri and Company, 306a Clayton Rd, Clayton.
“He was accompanied by his daughter Lisa Arena and Cufari.
“Cufari brought with him a brief case containing $350,000 in cash money.
“Upon the instructions of Michael Lanteri, Lisa Arena typed a contract of sale of land which related to 10 acres of land situated on the corner of Fifteenth St and Sandilongs Ave, Irymple, which belonged to Antonio Cufari.
“The contract of sale showed Giovanna Maggiore, Gesualdo Maggiore and the deceased as purchasers and Antonio Cufari as vendor of the block of land.
“The purchase price was to be $750,000, a deposit of $350,000 being payable by August 9, 1986, with the balance of $400,000 payable by August 9, 1991, or earlier at the option of the purchasers.
“The contract was signed by the deceased, Gesualdo Maggiore and Antonio Cufari.
“The $350,000 was given to solicitor Lanteri, who entered it into his firm’s trust account.
“On August 12, 1986, a credit of $350,000 was made to the account of Antonio Cufari.
“The $350,000 originated from Cufari in the form of cash money. It was placed through the solicitor’s trust account. A contract of sale was drawn up. The $350,000 then finds its way back to Cufari by way of a cheque deposited into Cufari’s account.
“At no stage did the deceased or Maggiore intend to purchase the land from Cufari. The signed contract of sale was purely a facade.
“There is evidence to show the deceased and Antonio Cufari were involved in a simple money laundering operation.
“It would appear that the deceased was assisting Cufari in legitimatising large sums of money that Cufari had accumulated by unknown activities.
“A joint National Crime Authority/Federal Police inquiry into the activities of the deceased and Antonio Cufari in relation to these money transactions has resulted in Cufari being charged under Section 86A of the Commonwealth Crimes Act with conspiring with the deceased to defraud the Commonwealth.
“At this stage, investigations have not been able to establish any nexus between these monetary transactions and the death of the deceased.
“The deceased had retired from the workforce approximately a month prior to his death.
“At the time of his death he had a net worth of $950,000.
“Inquiries have established that he had a number of criminal associates at the time of his death.”
The land involved in the fake $750,000 money laundering scam was actually worth less than $100,000.
Mr Lanteri later told a Sun newspaper reporter: “All I did was the conveyancing. The police have all the documents. They have everything, okay?”
Cufari pleaded guilty in Melbourne’s County Court in July 1992 to two counts of defrauding the Commonwealth and was jailed for four years and ordered to serve a minimum of two years.
He appealed and his jail term was later reduced to two and a half years, with a minimum of 12 months to be served.
In an agreed statement of facts presented in court, Cufari revealed that in order to evade income tax he entered into an arrangement with Arena that involved him giving Arena $560,000 in cash in three separate transactions.
Arena then returned the money to Cufari, ostensibly as loans or as a deposit to be paid by Arena for the purchase of land from Cufari.
Cufari paid Arena a commission of $41,000 for his money laundering role and put the rest of the cash towards buying the New Murray Hotel/Motel complex in Mildura for $1.08 million in August 1986.
Anyone with any information about the Arena murder should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online at crimestoppersvic.com.au
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