Detectives link gun used in Paul Virgona murder to other crime, court hears
A gun used in the fatal shooting of Paul Virgona as he drove to work on the EastLink has allegedly been linked to another unsolved crime, a court has heard.
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Detectives linked the gun used in the EastLink execution-style shooting of fruiterer Paul Virgona to an earlier unsolved firearm incident, a court has heard.
Mongols bikies Aaron Ong, 35, and Josh Rider, 30, have both been charged with murdering Mr Virgona, 46, as he drove to work along the freeway in Donvale on January 9, 2019.
Facing Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Friday, Mr Rider pleaded not guilty to the charge as he was committed to stand trial in the Supreme Court.
It comes after Mr Ong also pleaded not guilty and was last month directed for trial.
Mr Rider’s preliminary hearing was delayed after a key prosecution witness failed to appear to give evidence in his case on March 29.
That witness, Conrad Robson, was hauled before the court on Friday where it was revealed the gun used in a shooting at his home on January 29, 2018 was the same as that in the EastLink murder.
At the time of the 2018 shooting, the court heard Mr Robson had not revealed to police who the shooter was, and after hearing the shots outside his home, claimed he rolled over and went back to sleep.
He could not give any explanation as to why his home would be targeted.
But when Homicide detectives investigating the EastLink murder came knocking after forensic analysis of ballistics revealed a connection to the earlier shooting at his house, Mr Robson’s story changed.
The court heard he named Josh Rider as the person involved in shooting his house, detailing a series of messages he received on Facebook, which could not be retrieved by police.
Mr Rider has never been charged over the 2018 incident.
When probed by Mr Rider’s barrister Dermot Dann, homicide Detective Stephen Eppingstall insisted he did not plant Josh Rider’s name in Mr Robson’s head.
He said he did not even tell Mr Robson the details of the other case the gun had been used in until he coughed up Mr Rider’s name.
“To be honest I didn’t expect to get anything from him,” Det Eppingstall said.
“After he disclosed who had shot at his house, I revealed what the other crime was.”
Mr Rider, from Port Melbourne, and Mr Ong, from Kilsyth, are accused of lying in wait near Mr Virgona’s Croydon home for more than two hours before following him onto the freeway.
The pair allegedly sped up beside his van and fired 11 rounds into the driver’s side door from a semiautomatic gun.
The father of two, a grocer who ran Virgona Fresh Produce in Thornbury, died at the scene.
Magistrate Peter Reardon said there was sufficient evidence for Mr Rider and Mr Ong to be trialled.
An earlier hearing heard how a half-eaten KitKat ditched by Mr Ong as he fled the scene helped investigators link him through DNA to the brutal slaying.
Clothes allegedly belonging to Mr Rider were also found in dumped shopping bags.
Mobile phone movements and CCTV has also provided key evidence in the case.
The pair will front the Supreme Court for a directions hearing on May 3.
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