How Melbourne’s gangland war started, what it was all about and who died
Do you know how Melbourne’s gangland war started? Here’s everything you need to know about what went on, which underworld figures sided together and who became victims of the conflict made famous by TV’s Underbelly series.
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What was Melbourne’s gangland war all about?
It was a tit-for-tat series of executions, often in public places, in suburban Melbourne in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The conflict was largely between drug trafficker Carl Williams and those associated with Melbourne identity Dominic ‘Mick’ Gatto’s Carlton Crew, such as the Moran family.
Williams either ordered or arranged many of the murders, killing off rivals in the drug trade and seeking revenge.
WHEN WAS IT?
The murder of Alphonse Gangitano, the ‘Black Prince of Lygon St’, in January 1998 is said to have been the first of the underworld murders.
Gangitano’s death involved Carlton Crew figures Jason Moran and Graham ‘The Munster’ Kinniburgh, who were key players in the war that followed, but the shooting itself was not linked to the gangland conflict.
The Melbourne gangland war really began when Carl Williams was shot in the stomach during a dispute with the Morans on October 13, 1999. Williams survived and at least a dozen murders followed, including those of both Moran brothers.
The execution of Carlton Crew member Mario Condello, a close friend of Mick Gatto, at his Brighton home in February 2006 was the last of the killings.
But the war could truly be said to be over when Carl Williams finally pleaded guilty to orchestrating several of the murders and was jailed in May 2007. He was bashed to death in prison by a former mate and fellow inmate, Matthew Charles Johnson, in 2010.
HOW DID IT START?
The Melbourne gangland war began on Carl Williams’s 29th birthday, the day the wannabe drug baron was shot by Mark and Jason Moran — and lived.
Williams had moved into the illegal drug trade after a few years of running with other local Western suburbs criminals from his youth, known as the Sunshine Crew.
A dispute over a pill press and money owed is believed to have led to a meeting in a park in Gladstone Park, where Jason Moran shot Williams.
After he recovered Williams vowed to exact revenge on the Moran clan and anyone associated with them, starting with the murder of Mark Moran nine months later in June 2000.
Other key players in the Melbourne illicit drug business were also targeted in the years that followed.
WHO WERE THE MAIN FIGURES?
Carl Williams, his father George and wife Roberta, who headed a major drug operation and all served jail time. Andrew Veniamin served as a Williams bodyguard and hitman. Drug kingpin Tony Mokbel also aligned with Williams during the gangland war.
WHO WERE THE CARLTON CREW?
Carlton is home to Melbourne’s famous Italian food strip, Lygon St, and where Mick Gatto and his associates would meet for coffee and conduct business.
The former boxer and crane company operator often based himself at La Porcella restaurant, where he would shoot dead hitman Andrew Veniamin in self-defence in a back room in 2004.
Gatto was not involved in rival drug activities to Williams, but instead was drawn into the gangland conflict through his longstanding friendship with Lewis Moran, the father of Jason Moran and stepfather of Mark.
Carlton Crew associates that were killed during the conflict included Graham Kinniburgh, a former safe cracker; Mario Condello, a disgraced former solicitor; and all of the Morans. Gangitano had also once been a friend of Gatto.
WHO WERE THE SUNSHINE CREW?
The Sunshine Crew were violent young men from Melbourne’s west whose crimes in the late 1990s and early 2000s ranged from car rebirthing to bashings and kidnappings — and later killing their own. Some had been mates with Carl Williams, who grew up in Broadmeadows, or knew him through mutual friends.
They included former kickboxer Andrew ‘Benji” Veniamin, wannabe gangster Dino Dibra and Paul ‘PK’ Kallipolitis, all of whom were gunned down during the drug war.
Dibra was thought to have been murdered by Veniamin and Kallipolitis outside his Sunshine home in October 2000.
WHO DIED IN THE GANGLAND WAR?
ALPHONSE GANGITANO
Standover man
Shot dead in his home in January 1998, by Jason Moran.
Known for:
Being a thug who fancied himself a movie-style mobster in his fancy suits, earning the thug a less-flattering nickname, the Plastic Gangster. Shot a man dead at a St Kilda party in 1995, and was facing trial over infamous Sports Bar King St brawl (where he and Jason Moran attacked patrons with pool cues) when he died.
ANDREW “Benji” VENIAMIN
Hitman and friend of Carl Williams
Shot dead at La Porcella restaurant in Carlton on March 23, 2004, by Mick Gatto in self defence.
Known for:
Being Carl Williams’s hitman. Former kickboxer had been a friend of Gatto before aligning with Williams. Police say he shot dead Frank Benvenuto, Dino Dibra, Paul Kallipolitis, and Victor Peirce.
DINO DIBRA
Criminal associate of Carl Williams
Shot dead outside his Sunshine West home by Andrew Veniamin and Paul Kallipolitis.
Known for:
His love of movie gangsters and petty crime and shiny tracksuits. Was involved in car rebirthing rackets, brazen daylight kidnappings and the shooting of a bouncer at Dome nightclub.
PAUL KALLIPOLITIS
Drug dealer associate of Carl Williams
Shot dead at his Sunshine West home believed to be by Andrew Veniamin on October 15 2002.
Known for:
Serving just four years for manslaughter of a rival dealer in 1994 that he had shot twice in the back of the head. Believed to have helped Veniamin kill Dino Dibra in 2000.
FRANK BENVENUTO
Fruiterer who once offered a contract to kill Mick Gatto*
Shot dead in his car in Beaumaris, by Andrew Veniamin, in May 2000.
Known for:
Being a Mafia figure and Melbourne fruit and vegetable wholesaler. Was a suspect in murder of his brother-in-law who was killed during a family dispute.
*According to courtroom evidence from gangland informer, Witness B
VICTOR PEIRCE
Career criminal who accepted contract to kill Mick Gatto*
Shot dead in his car in Bay St, Port Melbourne in May 2002 by Andrew Veniamin.
Known for:
Being a member of the notorious Pettingill crime family who was acquitted of the 1988 Walsh St police murders. Killed before he could avenge the death of his friend Frank Benvenuto.
*According to courtroom evidence from gangland informer, Witness B
NIKOLAI RADEV
Rival drug dealer to Carl Williams, known as “Nik the Russian”
Shot in the head in Coburg in April 2003 by Andrew Veniamin and hitman turned informer, Mr A.
Known for:
Dangling a man from a balcony as part of his standard vicious standover tactics of torture and violence. And being buried in a gold coffin.
MARK MALLIA
Drug dealer associate of Nik Radev
Murdered in Sunshine West in August 2003 on orders of Carl Williams after rumours Mallia was seeking revenge for Radev’s death.
Known for:
The gruesome manner of his death, in which Williams’s gang tortured him before setting fire to his corpse in a wheelie bin.
GRAHAM THE MUNSTER KINNIBURGH
Former safebreaker and friend of Mick Gatto
Shot dead outside his home in Kew in December 2003 by Stephen Asling and Terrence Blewitt, on orders from Carl Williams.
Known for:
Being an ‘old school’ former criminal and peacemaker. Mates with Lewis Moran and Mick Gatto, he was present when Alphonse Gangitano was shot dead. Williams ordered his death when his hit team failed to kill Lewis Moran.
LEWIS MORAN
Crime patriarch and associate of Mick Gatto
Shot dead March 31, 2004 by masked men at the Brunswick Club a week after Veniamin’s death, arranged by Williams. Tony Mokbel was charged but acquitted of ordering the murder.
Known for:
Heading a notorious crime family. He was on $1m bail over drug trafficking when he was executed. His death meant widow Judy lost her husband and both sons to the gangland war.
JASON MORAN
Drug dealer and associate of Mick Gatto
Shot dead at his children’s footy clinic in Pascoe Vale on June 21, 2003, along with his passenger Pat Barbaro. Gunman was hitman Mr A, acting on orders from Carl Williams.
Known for:
Shooting dead Alphonse Gangitano as the pair were about to stand trial over Sports Bar bashings of 13 people. Also shot Williams in the stomach sparking the gangland war. Kangaroos AFL legend Wayne Carey onc gave character evidence for him in court.
MARK MORAN
Drug dealer and associate of Mick Gatto
Shot dead on June 15, 2000 outside his Aberfeldie home, with Carl Williams charged but never convicted.
Known for:
His rumoured romance with Danielle McGuire, who would later flee to Greece with fugitive drug baron Tony Mokbel.
MARIO CONDELLO
Former lawyer and friend of Mick Gatto
Shot dead at his East Brighton home in 2006. Had survived earlier an assassination plot orchestrated by Carl Williams when the would-be hitman was arrested.
Known for:
Being a loan shark in the lead-up to his death. Thought to have been a Calabrian Mafia money launderer. Had been a solicitor but instead dabbed in art fraud and drugs.
TERENCE HODSON
Police informer and criminal
Shot dead in his Kew home beside wife Christine as he was about to give evidence against allegedly corrupt police in May 2004. Carl Williams claimed he arranged for hitman Rodney Collins to kill him.
Known for:
Having his informer status leaked to the underworld in the form of a stolen file. Had helped corrupt cop David Miechel rob a drug house allegedly linked to Tony Mokbel, then agreed to give evidence about it before he was murdered.
CHRISTINE HODSON
Wife of Terence Hodson
Shot dead in her Kew home in May 2004.
Known for:
Being an innocent victim of suspected hitman Rodney Collins.
MICHAEL MARSHALL
Drug dealer
Shot dead by Mr A outside his South Yarra home on October 23, 2003 on orders of Carl Williams.
Known for:
Claiming to make his fortune as a hot dog vendor. Tony Mokbel was said by an informer at trial to have paid Williams for the hit as revenge for the slaying of a Mokbel drug runner, Willie Thompson. It was in fact Williams who had Thompson killed. The murder was captured on a listening device and saw the gunman and getaway driver arrested.
WILLIE THOMPSON
Drug dealer and former Moran associate
Shot dead leaving a martial arts club in Chadstone in July 2003.
Known for:
His small acting roles in between drug trafficking. Believed to have been working for Tony Mokbel when he was killed on orders of Carl Williams.
PASQUALE BARBARO
Friend of Jason Moran
Shot dead as he sat in a van beside Jason Moran in Pascoe Vale in June 2003.
Known for:
Being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Small-scale criminal with drug convictions wasn’t an intended victim, with hitman Mr A later claiming he didn’t even see him when he fired at Moran.
LEWIS CAINE
Linked to both sides
Shot dead in a car and dumped in a Brunswick street in May 2004 by the same men who killed Lewis Moran. They claimed Caine was plotting to murder Mario Condello.
Known for:
Being the partner of solicitor Zarah Garde-Wilson at the time of his murder. A convicted killer who once beat a man to death. Had lunch with Carl Williams the day before he died.
TIMELINE OF EVENTS IN MELBOURNE’S GANGLAND WAR
January 1998: Alphonse Gangitano shot dead by Jason Moran. Graham Kinniburgh was present at the time.
October 1999: Carl Williams shot in the stomach by Jason and Mark Moran but refuses to tell police who his assailant was.
November 1999: George & Carl Williams charged and remanded in custody after police raid a house in Broadmeadows and find a pill press producing ecstasy tablets and chemicals worth more than $20 million.
June 2000: Mark Moran shot dead in Aberfeldie. An informer later says he drove Carl Williams there that night.
May 2000: Fruiterer and mafia figure Frank Benvenuto shot dead by Andrew Veniamin.
October 2000: Dino Dibra shot dead by his former friend Andrew Veniamin.
May 2001: Carl Williams and wife Roberta arrested at a Broadmeadows shopping centre, charged with trafficking a large quantity of methamphetamine.
August 2001: Tony Mokbel arrested over a $2 billion drug empire.
January 2002: Coroner names Jason Moran and Graham Kinniburgh as being present at the Gangitano murder.
May 2002: Career criminal Victor Peirce shot dead by Andrew Veniamin.
July 2002: Carl Williams released on bail amid allegations of large scale corruption in Victoria Police drug squad including some involved in his arrest.
September 2002: Tony Mokbel freed on $1m bail.
October 2002: Paul ‘PK’ Kallipolitis shot dead by Andrew Veniamin.
December 2002: A career criminal Mr A, who met Tony Mokbel and Carl Williams in jail, is released from prison.
April 2003: Drug dealer Nik ‘The Russian’ Radev shot dead by Andrew Veniamin.
J une 2003: Jason Moran and Pasquale Barbaro shot dead at children’s footy clinic by Mr A.
July 2003: Willy Thompson shot dead on orders of Carl Williams.
August 2003: Burned body of Mark Mallia, associate of Nik Radev, found in a wheelie bin after he was tortured and killed on orders of Carl Williams.
October 2003: Michael Marshall shot dead by Mr A. Police hear the slaying take place on a listening device hidden in the getaway car and arrest him and the driver, Mr X.
December 2003: Carl Williams bailed on charges of threatening to kill a detective. Graham ‘The Munster’ Kinniburgh shot dead ten days later. ‘Peace meeting’ then follows between members of the Carlton Crew (Mick Gatto, Mario Condello) and Carl Williams at Crown Casino.
March 2004: Hitman Andrew ‘Benji’ Veniamin shot dead by Mick Gatto.
April 2004: Lewis Moran shot dead, and mate Bert Wrout injured, at the Brunswick Club. Carl Williams arranged the murder, carried out by a three-man team.
May 2004: Convicted killer Lewis Caine, the then partner of solicitor Zarah Garde-Wilson, shot dead and dumped in a Brunswick street. Police informer Terence Hodson, who was due to give evidence again allegedly corrupt police, and wife Christine shot dead.
June 2004: A would-be gunman arrested near the North Rd, East Brighton home of Mario Condello. Carl Williams and others involved in the plot arrested and refused bail. Condello also arrested for plotting to kill Williams and his father George.
July 2004: Mr X, the getaway driver in several murders ordered by Carl Williams, decides to turn informer and make a deal with police.
August 2004: Carl Williams, Mr A and another man charged while on remand with the murders of Jason Moran and Pasquale Barbaro following statements made by Mr X.
October 2004: Carl Williams jailed for 7 years for drug trafficking.
January 2005: Mr X, a convicted rapist, jailed for just 10 years for his role as getaway driver in three murders, in return for agreeing to give evidence against Carl Williams and others.
June 2005: Mick Gatto found not guilty of the murder of Andrew Veniamin, with a jury accepting his claim that he acted in self-defence and shot him when the hitman pulled a gun.
February 2006: Mario Condello shot dead.
March 2006: Tony Mokbel skips bail and goes into hiding in the middle of his drug trial, fearing he is about to be charged with involvement in gangland murders. He is convicted in his absence.
May 2006: Carl Williams found guilty, during a secretly-held Supreme Court trial, of ordering the murder of Michael Marshall. Jailed for 27 years. The verdict remains suppressed as he awaits other trials.
May 2007: Carl Williams decides to plead guilty and is jailed for the murders of Jason Moran, Pasquale Barbaro & Mark Mallia and conspiring to kill Mario Condello.
June 2007: Tony Mokbel arrested in Greece, where he has been living while still running his Australian drug empire The Company. A former member of the operation, dubbed 3030, turned informer and led police to him.
December 2008: Former cop Paul Noel Dale arrested for murders of Terence and Christine Hodson, charges which are later dropped. Carl Williams makes a statement about the deaths of the Hodsons but declines to make one the murder of Graham Kinniburgh, whose death he admits to arranging.
April 2010: Carl Williams bashed to death in the maximum-security Barwon Prison by Matthew Charles Johnson.
Originally published as How Melbourne’s gangland war started, what it was all about and who died
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