Hitman: The young boy who would become a cold-blooded assassin

Born into a family of criminals, this Melbourne assassin witnessed horrific violence as a child. It set him on a path to becoming a stone-cold killer.

The veteran always had the pedigree to become a cold-blooded assassin.

This jailed hitman, a veteran violent criminal turned gun for hire, could soon be back on the streets.

Although the veteran’s real identity is suppressed by the courts, everyone in Victoria’s jail system knows who he is and why he is only serving 19 years for three murders, all contract kills.

The veteran — a pseudonym given to him after he became a prosecution witness — always had the pedigree to become a cold-blooded assassin.

Born into a family of criminals, the veteran started young and as a career criminal, spent his life in and out of prison.

In the 2000s he emerged as a gun for hire, ready to join the gangland kill-fest.

His conniving and merciless nature made him a good choice as a triggerman.

The veteran admitted to killing “vampire” gigolo Shane Chatres-Abbott in 2003.

But what should have made crime bosses wary was the veteran’s tendency to cut a deal when staring down a life prison sentence.

The official death count the veteran leaves behind is five bodies although he has accused of ending the life of at least one other.

During Melbourne’s gangland years he took part in three murders.

The veteran admitted to being the triggerman who ended the life of “vampire’’ gigolo Shane Chartres-Abbott in 2003.

He followed up the following year with the murders of two others.

But cops and crooks sense he has gotten away with more.

Getting others to take the fall became the hallmark of the veteran’s criminal repertoire in the years ahead.

Former homicide squad detective John Ashby remembers being called to a prison for a meeting with the veteran, who claimed to have an interesting tale to tell.

Graeme Jensen’s smashed car after police shot him dead in Narre Warren.

In 1988, the veteran, in 1988, told Detective Ashby soon after the killing of armed robber Graeme Jensen — who was shot by police — that the stick up bandit always carried his favourite gun.

But there was a catch.

The veteran didn’t have a clue what kind of gun was found with Jensen.

“He was expecting me to tell him what the gun was so he could make a statement to that effect,’’ Mr Ashby said.

“It’s completely incredulous.

“I wasn’t going to help him pervert the course of justice.’’

The veteran, the master manipulator, at the time was looking ahead to his own next court hearing and the potential of a discount.

The veteran can’t be named after he became a prosecution witness.

His knack of convincing younger associates to take the fall will be one of his enduring legacies.

Ange Goussis is one man who wishes he never met the veteran.

Goussis is currently serving a minimum 35-years for two gangland murders.

One of the murders was almost certainly committed by the veteran in front of him, but it’s a widely held view he convinced the younger Goussis to take the rap.

Both went down for it.

Had Goussis taken some advice from another, older, crook things may have turned out differently.

Mark “Chopper’’ Read is no more, but he and the veteran never saw eye-to-eye.

He knew the veteran could not be trusted.

Their rivalry played out in prison gang warfare.

But while “Chopper’’ embraced infamy and even embellished his history as a killer, the veteran’s history remains suppressed — at least until he too dies.