Graham Potter to be extradited to Victoria after 12 years on the run

Notorious fugitive Graham Potter will be extradited to Victoria after he was captured hiding out in Far North Queensland after 12 years on the run.

Australia’s most-wanted fugitive Graham Potter will be extradited to Victoria after he was captured in Ravenshoe in Far North Queensland on Monday.

Potter will face two counts of suspicion to murder after his court appearance was heard by video link in Cairns Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

Mr Potter’s case was heard just before midday where he was remanded in custody and his extradition to Melbourne ordered. He is expected to travel from Cairns on Wednesday.

Potter allegedly used an alias of “Josh Lawson” when approached by armed police before he was sensationally arrested in Far North Queensland on Monday.

Detective Acting Inspector Kevin Goan said Potter, who has been on the run from Victorian authorities for 12 years, has been co-operating with police since biometric testing revealed his true identity overnight.

Queensland detectives and the dog squad swooped on a Ravenshoe property on Monday after receiving “credible information” he was hiding out in a dilapidated shed.

The 64-year-old convicted killer was found inside the dingy property, where the windows were ­obscured from view and kittens were locked in cages.

Graham Potter has been arrested in Queensland.

Stunning new revelations have now emerged in the wake of Potter’s arrest.

Residents in Ascham St — where Potter was captured — revealed the fugitive hid out in the street years ago.

His living situation was something of an open secret, according to one family, who told how schoolchildren were at one point warned not to walk past the property.

Resident Skye Adamson told the Herald Sun it came as no shock to her that authorities found him inside the home on Monday.

“I wasn’t too surprised because he was there years ago, maybe eight years ago. My mum got interviewed because he was hiding out at the house. Some of my friends weren’t allowed to walk past there for a while,” she said.

The owner of the home, Sandi Feller, told local media Potter gave her a fake name.

The property has been occupied by Ms Feller for more than 20 years.

She said he was known to her as “Ned” and that police had seized her mobile phone as evidence following his arrest.

Ms Feller was released without charge.

4 Ascham St Ravenshoe, where fugitive Graham Potter was arrested. Picture: Supplied

The home is located two doors down from a primary school, with a kindergarten also on the street.

Ms Adamson said the property was ordinarily a junkyard, with rubbish often dumped in public view.

However a fortnight ago, a major clean-up took place, with trees on the property also removed.

“It was like a forest in there but she started getting all the trees cleared about two weeks ago,” Ms Adamson said.

She said the owner kept cats, dogs, guinea pigs and ducks at the property.

Ms Feller has been contacted for comment.

Meanwhile, a tipster who helped end the 12-year manhunt for Australia’s most-wanted man could be in line for a $100,000 reward.

Acting Assistant Commissioner Mick Frewen, of Victoria Police crime command, said Potter’s arrest was a huge breakthrough.

“(He is a) violent person, with crimes of significance and (his arrest is) certainly a dent in organised crime activity ­because his reach not only extended to northern parts of Victoria and NSW but to the existence as a fugitive for such a significant period,” he said.

“There would have been ­assistance along the way for him to continue to exist.”

Mr Frewen said a forensic investigation into where Potter has been hiding out and who may have helped him could now take place.

He said the person who tipped police off to Potter’s whereabouts could “potentially” be in line for the reward, which was announced in 2011.

“We don’t know how the tipser got on to him, we will explore that today,” Mr Frewen said.

Potter is highly connected with organised crime figures across Victoria and NSW.

In 1981, he was jailed for life for the murder of teenager Kim Barry at Wollongong. He beat her, then cut off her head and fingers. Potter was released in 1996.

He disappeared from Victoria in 2010 after being charged with conspiracy to murder. It was alleged an Honoured Society boss and crime figures from Italy engaged Potter to carry out two gangland killings linked to a failed drug importation ring.

Potter is a sophisticated shapeshifter known to dramatically change his appearance and take on aliases to remain under the radar.

There had been many sightings of him in NSW and Queensland before his arrest on Monday.

In 2010 he managed to get away from police, who pulled him over for a routine intercept in Tully, Queensland. Officers later searched a caravan park in Tully where a fat suit and other disguises believed to belong to Potter were found.

An officer trains a gun on Potter as he climbs down from a bed.

The dingy, dark room where Potter was found.

Potter is taken into custody.

After receiving the information on Potter’s location, police wasted no time, with officers from Queensland Police pouncing about 8.45am inside a dingy, dark room where the window was covered by a sheet and rubbish was strewn across the floor.

The arresting officer had a gun trained on Potter as he yelled: “Stay there. Do not move. This is the police. Do not move. Put your hands where I can see them”.

Potter could be seen climbing down from a bunk bed and clambering over metal cages before turning his back to the wall and submitting to police.

Also inside the property were stacks of national and state newspapers, dogs, cats and animal cages.

Potter had been linked to the town of Ravenshoe in the past. Authorities were aware of him living in Ravenshoe in the months after he fled Victoria in 2010 while on bail.

Potter was jailed for the murder of teenager Kim Barry.

Potter after his conviction.

The murder conspiracy charges against Potter relate to allegations he was hired to kill a man at the wedding of Mick Gatto’s son in 2008. Neither Mr Gatto nor his son are suspected of wrongdoing.

Potter is also facing federal cocaine trafficking charges.

Before Monday, one gangland theory had it that, because he had gone underground for so long, Potter had been murdered.

Mr Frewen said police, state and federal, never gave up on finding him.

“(This) puts to end a very long and protracted hunt for a very high-end fugitive that is wanted for very, very serious criminal charges,” he said.