Mario Condello murdered after drug deal collapsed, informant claims

Mario Condello effectively signed his own death warrant by trying to skimp on a drug deal involving the Mokbel empire, a secret informer has told police.

Carlton Crew figure Mario Condello was murdered after a drug deal involving the Mokbel empire collapsed, a secret informer told investigators.

That witness told detectives from the Purana task force that a senior member of the Mokbel family told him, “Condello is gone”, hours before the 2006 killing.

“He whispered this to me and giggled while he was saying it. I immediately assumed that Mario Condello was going to be killed,” he said in a statement.

The informer was given $10,000 owed to him and told to go home after the conversation behind Brunswick’s The Grove Cafe, a Mokbel family stronghold in the underworld war era.

Later that night, on February 6, news broke that Condello had been shot dead as he arrived back at his Brighton home.

The witness told investigators that he subsequently met with the Mokbel family member, who explained why Condello had to die.

“At this meeting we discussed the Condello murder and I asked (Mokbel family member) what Mario had done to deserve it,’’ the witness states.

Condello with Mick Gatto and Graham Kinniburgh. Picture: Eugene Hyland

“(He) went on to explain that Mario Condello had been the broker for the initial deal on the 2000 litres of P2P (a methamphetamine precursor chemical).

“He told me Mario was supposed to broker the deal with some Asians to pick up the P2P in Sydney. He said (another Mokbel family member) had been involved in the deal and they had both outlaid a large amount of money to Mario to broker the deal.’’

The witness said the deal involved a $1 million outlay each from the Mokbel crew and Condello.

But he said Condello tried to do the deal without tipping in his share.

“(Mokbel) said Condello had actually gone to the Asians with only $1 million from them and tried to broker a deal for half now and half later after the product had been turned and sold.’’

Ultimately, the deal fell through and the witness said the Mokbel brother had lost his P2P and his money.

The witness also noted that on the night he visited the Grove, there was a group of younger men playing pool downstairs.

They included one young man in a baseball cap and a grey tracksuit who was standing near a fireplace.

The informer would later say that he was rocking back and forth and appeared to be fidgety.

Two nights later, the witness returned to the Grove.

Condello’s murder scene outside his Brighton house.

Condello who was shot dead in the driveway of his Brighton home.

He told investigators that the young man he had seen on his previous visit seemed to be the subject of an inordinate amount of attention, a situation that appeared to cause him discomfort.

“The other guys were patting him on the back asking him what he wanted to eat or drink, behaviour normally directed towards someone higher in the crew’s hierarchy.”

The young man had previously been regarded as a runner for the family, doing drugs and money errands, the witness said.

But, after the night of the killing, he seemed to take on more responsibility in some kind of bodyguard role.

Other documents previously released indicated another young north suburban man had been tracked in the Brighton area at the time of the fatal ambush.

There have over the years been several theories on the Condello murder.

They include that drug boss Carl Williams, who was in jail at the time, used hit man Rod Collins to ambush him in his driveway as he returned home to meet a court-imposed curfew.

There was bad blood there, police having previously blown apart a conspiracy by Williams and other associates to murder Condello as he walked near his home early in the morning.

Condello had also been charged with trying to hire a contract killer to execute Williams and his father George.

Another theory in the Brighton hit is that the Italian Mafia flew in hired assassins to shoot him because it was feared Condello may co-operate with police on underworld matters.

No charges have ever been laid over the Mario Condello killing.

A gunman emerged from the darkness at his North Rd home as the victim pulled into his driveway after a day of collecting money for a drug rehabilitation clinic.

Condello, who was on his mobile phone, did not stand a chance.

He was shot between four and six times, suffering wounds to the head, forearm, abdomen and chest.

Separately, the Grove restaurant witness also told the Purana task force that in 2004 he was directed to “go straight home’’ from the Belfiore restaurant in Brunswick “because Lewis Moran was going to be killed’’.

Mokbel family members were gathered at the Sydney Rd venue that night, he recalled.

The witness said he later saw police cars heading at speed along Sydney Rd that night.

“I learnt later that they were going to the Brunswick Club where Lewis Moran had been shot.’’