Kyla
03-23-2004, 10:40 PM
By Padraic Murphy, Daniel Hoare and wires
March 24, 2004
MELBOURNE's underworld is braced for the next slaying after the city's public gangland war escalated yesterday with the murder of accused hitman Andrew Veniamin.
Carlton pizza restaurant
Veniamin's body is removed from the restaurant last night.
Dominic "Mick" Gatto, 48, of XXXXXXX XXXXXXXX appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court this morning charged with Veniamin's murder.
Police assistant commissioner Simon Overland said today that Veniamin had told police he knew he was going to die.
"He obviously lived with that at least in the back of his mind (that he could be murdered)," Mr Overland told radio station 3AW.
"What happened yesterday was not much of a surprise to us, to him or those close to him."
Alleged confrontation
Veniamin became at least the 22nd victim of the city's gangland carnage of the past six years - and the eighth in 12 months - when he was shot during an argument in La Porcella pizza restaurant in XXXXXXXXX, Carlton, about 2.40pm.
It is understood the shooting occurred after Veniamin entered the restaurant and had a confrontation with Gatto, who was eating at a table. Veniamin suffered massive injuries and died at the scene.
"There was an argument of some description, some type of altercation, between two males and as the result of that, one male is deceased in the restaurant," said Inspector Andy Allen, head of Victoria Police's Purana taskforce, which is investigating the city's unprecedented spate of unsolved slayings.
Gatto was arrested by police near the restaurant within 15 minutes of the killing. He was being questioned by homicide detectives last night.
The heavily built and tattooed Veniamin acted as bodyguard for Carl Anthony Williams, 33, a property developer and alleged drug-dealer currently bailed on a charge of threatening to kill a Purana detective and the officer's wife.
Gatto, Veniamin and Williams are all "of interest" to Operation Purana. So too is murder suspect Victor Brincat, a close friend of Williams and Veniamin.
The phone call in which Williams allegedly made his murder threat was to Brincat, on remand in Barwon prison in November.
Police investigators at the crime scene last night / Brett Hartwig
Less than three hours before yesterday's killing, Williams, Veniamin and Williams's wife, Roberta, were in a light-hearted mood in the public gallery of Melbourne Magistrates Court 1 as Brincat's lawyers succeeded in preventing police taking a DNA sample from him.
When Brincat was ushered into the dock, he winked and smiled at Veniamin and the Williamses, who smiled and gestured in return.
Brincat is charged with the October 25 murder of Michael Marshall, who also operated on the fringes of Melbourne's underworld.
Police wanted Brincat's DNA to compare with material found on the shotgun used to kill notorious drug trafficker and standover man Jason Moran and Pasquale Barbaro on June 21.
Brincat was this week identified as the police's principal suspect in the Moran killing, though Veniamin was also suspected of involvement in that murder and the June 2000 slaying of Jason's half-brother, Mark Moran.
Williams has told associates that after leaving the magistrates court at about 12.15pm yesterday, he dropped Veniamin at the home they shared in Melbourne's northern suburbs and did not know why the victim then travelled to Carlton.
March 24, 2004
MELBOURNE's underworld is braced for the next slaying after the city's public gangland war escalated yesterday with the murder of accused hitman Andrew Veniamin.
Carlton pizza restaurant
Veniamin's body is removed from the restaurant last night.
Dominic "Mick" Gatto, 48, of XXXXXXX XXXXXXXX appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court this morning charged with Veniamin's murder.
Police assistant commissioner Simon Overland said today that Veniamin had told police he knew he was going to die.
"He obviously lived with that at least in the back of his mind (that he could be murdered)," Mr Overland told radio station 3AW.
"What happened yesterday was not much of a surprise to us, to him or those close to him."
Alleged confrontation
Veniamin became at least the 22nd victim of the city's gangland carnage of the past six years - and the eighth in 12 months - when he was shot during an argument in La Porcella pizza restaurant in XXXXXXXXX, Carlton, about 2.40pm.
It is understood the shooting occurred after Veniamin entered the restaurant and had a confrontation with Gatto, who was eating at a table. Veniamin suffered massive injuries and died at the scene.
"There was an argument of some description, some type of altercation, between two males and as the result of that, one male is deceased in the restaurant," said Inspector Andy Allen, head of Victoria Police's Purana taskforce, which is investigating the city's unprecedented spate of unsolved slayings.
Gatto was arrested by police near the restaurant within 15 minutes of the killing. He was being questioned by homicide detectives last night.
The heavily built and tattooed Veniamin acted as bodyguard for Carl Anthony Williams, 33, a property developer and alleged drug-dealer currently bailed on a charge of threatening to kill a Purana detective and the officer's wife.
Gatto, Veniamin and Williams are all "of interest" to Operation Purana. So too is murder suspect Victor Brincat, a close friend of Williams and Veniamin.
The phone call in which Williams allegedly made his murder threat was to Brincat, on remand in Barwon prison in November.
Police investigators at the crime scene last night / Brett Hartwig
Less than three hours before yesterday's killing, Williams, Veniamin and Williams's wife, Roberta, were in a light-hearted mood in the public gallery of Melbourne Magistrates Court 1 as Brincat's lawyers succeeded in preventing police taking a DNA sample from him.
When Brincat was ushered into the dock, he winked and smiled at Veniamin and the Williamses, who smiled and gestured in return.
Brincat is charged with the October 25 murder of Michael Marshall, who also operated on the fringes of Melbourne's underworld.
Police wanted Brincat's DNA to compare with material found on the shotgun used to kill notorious drug trafficker and standover man Jason Moran and Pasquale Barbaro on June 21.
Brincat was this week identified as the police's principal suspect in the Moran killing, though Veniamin was also suspected of involvement in that murder and the June 2000 slaying of Jason's half-brother, Mark Moran.
Williams has told associates that after leaving the magistrates court at about 12.15pm yesterday, he dropped Veniamin at the home they shared in Melbourne's northern suburbs and did not know why the victim then travelled to Carlton.