1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:05,160 Speaker 1: Frank Benvenuto tried to call Victor Pierce and couldn't get through, 2 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:08,600 Speaker 1: and then he died. Four minutes later, Victor Pierce called 3 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:10,760 Speaker 1: him back and said, oh sorry, mate, missed your call, 4 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,240 Speaker 1: but it was too late. Frank the greengrocer was brown bread. 5 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:15,920 Speaker 2: Police were called and. 6 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:18,600 Speaker 1: They pulled both bodies out of the river, and they 7 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:23,000 Speaker 1: concluded that this was secret mobster men's business. The clue 8 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:25,639 Speaker 1: was that Medici's ears had been cut off and he 9 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:28,400 Speaker 1: was shot twice in the head and stabbed in the stomach. 10 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:34,720 Speaker 1: I'm Andrew Rules's Life and Crimes. It's twenty five years 11 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:38,400 Speaker 1: since a guy called Frank ben Venuto was shot dead 12 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:43,479 Speaker 1: driving his blue Holden Statesman sedan very close to his 13 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:48,199 Speaker 1: home down in Beau Morris. I think he was pulling 14 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:52,360 Speaker 1: a load of rubbish to the tip and probably was 15 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:54,720 Speaker 1: backing out of his drive and was slowly turning a 16 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:58,720 Speaker 1: corner nearby. But whichever it was, he was going slowly 17 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 1: enough a hit man with a pistol was able to 18 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:07,040 Speaker 1: step up beside him and shoot him. I think in 19 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:09,319 Speaker 1: the neck. I don't know that it hit him in 20 00:01:09,319 --> 00:01:13,080 Speaker 1: the head because he lasted a few minutes, and we 21 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:18,399 Speaker 1: know that because he tried to call his own pet gunman, 22 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 1: a guy called Victor Pierce. And we all know about 23 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:25,240 Speaker 1: Victor Pierce. He came to a bad end, as they 24 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:28,560 Speaker 1: all do. But this guy, Frank ben Venuto, tried to 25 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:32,160 Speaker 1: call Victor Pierce and couldn't get through and then he died. 26 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:36,039 Speaker 1: Four minutes later, Victor Pierce called him back and said, 27 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:40,520 Speaker 1: oh sorry, mate, missed your call, but it was too late. Frank. 28 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:44,560 Speaker 1: The greengrocer was brown bread. That shooting was on May 29 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:48,320 Speaker 1: the eighth of the year two thousand, so twenty five 30 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:51,680 Speaker 1: years ago, as we're speaking at the minute in our studio, 31 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:55,320 Speaker 1: and it turns out that May is actually a very 32 00:01:55,400 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 1: dangerous month for mafia figures and their associates around on Melbourne, 33 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:05,919 Speaker 1: because just eight days after that shooting, another mafia associate, 34 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:09,239 Speaker 1: not actually a mafia member, but a guy who rubbed 35 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:14,640 Speaker 1: shoulders with the mafia, a standover man, gunman all round, 36 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:18,320 Speaker 1: no good guy, a guy called Richard Vladanitch. He was 37 00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:23,760 Speaker 1: shot dead at the Esquire Motel in Saint Kilda, and 38 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:28,960 Speaker 1: although it's never been proven who shot him, it is 39 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 1: understood that one of the last people to see him 40 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:37,560 Speaker 1: alive was a mister Rocco Arico, who most certainly was 41 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:41,160 Speaker 1: associated with the likes of Frank ben Venuto and the 42 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:45,640 Speaker 1: Mirror Toures and various other members of families which some 43 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 1: people would associate with mobsters. Now Rocco Arico, as most 44 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:54,320 Speaker 1: of our listeners will recall, is currently in prison for 45 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 1: quite a long time, and when he gets out of prison, 46 00:02:57,639 --> 00:03:00,799 Speaker 1: if he's unlucky, he may well be deported back to Italy, 47 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:04,200 Speaker 1: because he's one of those unfortunate people who came to 48 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:08,400 Speaker 1: this country as a very small child, probably grew up 49 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:12,840 Speaker 1: almost with English as his first language. Really, who's an 50 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:17,160 Speaker 1: Australian in every other way except for his citizenship, And 51 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:21,239 Speaker 1: he could face being deported when he gets out of jail. 52 00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:24,400 Speaker 1: And one of the things that police hold against him 53 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:28,440 Speaker 1: is the possibility, if not the likelihood, that he had 54 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:30,880 Speaker 1: a lot to do with the death of Richard Ladnich 55 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:36,320 Speaker 1: and many other things. But we'll see what happens. One 56 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:39,680 Speaker 1: of the problems the police and the prosecutors have in 57 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: that case is that Rocque Arico could be the only 58 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:47,640 Speaker 1: person left alive who was around on the night of 59 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: May sixteen, in the year two thousand, around the Esquire 60 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:57,280 Speaker 1: Motel where Richard Ladinich was shot dead. I think it's 61 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:01,080 Speaker 1: fair to say that other people at the police suspective 62 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 1: possibly being involved. These would include Dino Dibbrah, the late 63 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:11,200 Speaker 1: Dino Dibbrah, the late Mark Morhan, and the late Carl Williams. 64 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:13,920 Speaker 2: They're all dead, That's why we say late. 65 00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: Now. No matter who pulled the trigger on Richard Madnich, 66 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:21,479 Speaker 1: you'd have to say that he was the sort of 67 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:27,040 Speaker 1: guy that wasn't mourned much or by many people. Of course, 68 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 1: he would have had a mother somewhere and a sister 69 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:32,200 Speaker 1: or brother somewhere, but it wasn't as if he had 70 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:35,640 Speaker 1: one of those massive funerals where everybody loved him and 71 00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:39,120 Speaker 1: cried and all that stuff, because he was a very violent, 72 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:43,680 Speaker 1: unpredictable and in some respects unlovable person. You would say, 73 00:04:43,839 --> 00:04:47,280 Speaker 1: even in Pentridge he had that reputation. They call him 74 00:04:47,279 --> 00:04:50,400 Speaker 1: mad Richard in Penridge Prison, which was full of mad people. 75 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 1: This contrasts with two other people, two wholesale vegetable market 76 00:04:56,120 --> 00:05:00,600 Speaker 1: identities well known to the ben Venuto family, who were 77 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 1: greatly missed by their loved ones even before. 78 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:07,480 Speaker 2: The police knew they were dead. 79 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:11,560 Speaker 1: That double murder happened sixteen years before the killings of 80 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:16,960 Speaker 1: Benvenuto and Ladinich, But like theirs, it happened in May, 81 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:20,520 Speaker 1: which of course is just a coincidence, May and May. 82 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,920 Speaker 1: What's not a coincidence is that these two dead guys, 83 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:27,200 Speaker 1: the ones we are going to talk about in just 84 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:33,360 Speaker 1: a moment, they were Calabrians, well known to the Benvenuto 85 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:38,200 Speaker 1: crime family. These murders came to light on May the 86 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:43,240 Speaker 1: sixth of nineteen eighty four when an angler fishing in 87 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:48,000 Speaker 1: the Murrumbidgee River near Griffith thought he took the biggest 88 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:52,960 Speaker 1: murray cod in the river system. In fact, it wasn't 89 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:57,520 Speaker 1: a murray cod, It wasn't a log, it wasn't a bullock. 90 00:05:58,200 --> 00:05:59,320 Speaker 2: It was the. 91 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:04,320 Speaker 1: Body of Rocco Medici, who had traveled to Griffith with 92 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:09,599 Speaker 1: his extremely unlucky brother in law, Giuseppe Farina, just a 93 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:13,440 Speaker 1: few days earlier. Police were called and they pulled both 94 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:17,640 Speaker 1: bodies out of the river, and they immediately concluded that 95 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:21,880 Speaker 1: this was secret mobster men's business. The clue was that 96 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:24,760 Speaker 1: Medici's ears had been cut off and he was shot 97 00:06:24,839 --> 00:06:28,680 Speaker 1: twice in the head and stabbed in the stomach. It 98 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:31,600 Speaker 1: was widely reported then and since that these men have 99 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:35,839 Speaker 1: been tortured before they were murdered, and I think he 100 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:39,760 Speaker 1: would have cut the ears off Rocco Medici as a 101 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:45,040 Speaker 1: symbolic warning. It was the custom of the Calabria mafia, 102 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:49,680 Speaker 1: the real name of which is Danghetta, to cut off 103 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:54,680 Speaker 1: ears if it was said that the victim had been 104 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:58,240 Speaker 1: hearing too much. He had been listening too much. Other 105 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:01,359 Speaker 1: people might have their tongue cut if they talk too much, 106 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:04,000 Speaker 1: and so on. Others perhaps had their eyes pulled out 107 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:06,400 Speaker 1: because they saw too much. You get the drift. So 108 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:11,040 Speaker 1: the mutilation of Roco Medici's body was a message to 109 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:17,240 Speaker 1: all of the mafia members and family and associates. Don't 110 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:19,480 Speaker 1: do what this guy did, or you could end up 111 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:24,320 Speaker 1: like him. The other guy was very stiff in every 112 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 1: respect because his name was such as Seppie Farina, and 113 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:32,520 Speaker 1: his only connection really was that he was Rocco Medici's 114 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:35,520 Speaker 1: brother in law. And when Roco Medici was lured the 115 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:40,000 Speaker 1: Griffith on a promise, a false promise of a drug deal, 116 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:43,280 Speaker 1: that this other guy, his brother in law, went up 117 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:46,480 Speaker 1: for the ride, just went for the trip, a trip 118 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:50,640 Speaker 1: to the country, and when they got there they were 119 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:55,000 Speaker 1: either met by the killer killers or they went with them. 120 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:57,600 Speaker 1: I'm not clear which way it happened, because no one 121 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:02,600 Speaker 1: really has explained that, but clearly they did run into 122 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:07,000 Speaker 1: I believe, two people, one of them who may well 123 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:09,600 Speaker 1: have driven them up was a guy called Joe Rossi. 124 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:13,239 Speaker 1: Now Joe Rossi was in fact a henchman of the Benvenutos, 125 00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:18,320 Speaker 1: and Rossi was dying of cancer many years later, about 126 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:21,760 Speaker 1: twenty four years later, in two thousand and eight, and 127 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:26,679 Speaker 1: he actually supposedly made a deathbeg confession to an unknown 128 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:30,360 Speaker 1: person who spoke to police I think later, and said, 129 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:34,520 Speaker 1: I was there when these two guys were killed. I 130 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:37,320 Speaker 1: didn't do it, but I was there. I was present, 131 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:42,479 Speaker 1: and the killer, the shooter, the gunman was a Calabrian 132 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:45,440 Speaker 1: gunman who is still alive and still living in Melbourne 133 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:47,440 Speaker 1: at that time two thousand and eight. 134 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:50,720 Speaker 2: And possibly Joe Rossi had. 135 00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:54,240 Speaker 1: Some sort of guilty conscience about the whole thing, because 136 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:59,280 Speaker 1: he said that when he realized that this guy roc 137 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:02,480 Speaker 1: O Medici, who he'd helped set up to be murdered, 138 00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:05,160 Speaker 1: when he realized he had a second person with him 139 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:08,480 Speaker 1: who had nothing to do with it, it worried him 140 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:13,240 Speaker 1: and he called he called his boss in Melbourne, Liboio Benvenuto, 141 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:17,360 Speaker 1: the old Godfather. Now this is the father of Frank, 142 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:20,640 Speaker 1: the one we mentioned earlier that was shot dead in 143 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:24,040 Speaker 1: the year two thousand. Liboreo was the big godfather back 144 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:27,160 Speaker 1: in the day from the nineteen sixties until his death 145 00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:31,520 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty eight. And it was Liborio who ordered 146 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:35,120 Speaker 1: the death of Roco Medici. And he did that because 147 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:40,880 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty three, just the year before this double killing, 148 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:45,160 Speaker 1: the Boreo's four WLL drive car was blown sky high 149 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:48,760 Speaker 1: with JELLYG. Knight at the Melbourne Fruit and Vegetable Markets. 150 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:51,720 Speaker 1: I think it was parked outside somewhere and up it went. 151 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:55,199 Speaker 1: And whether he was supposed to be in it or 152 00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:59,560 Speaker 1: whether it was just a warning to him, it would 153 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:03,080 Speaker 1: appear that there was a lot of unrest about who 154 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:05,959 Speaker 1: should be running the Melbourne markets and who should be 155 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:09,480 Speaker 1: the big boss and therefore getting the most money out 156 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:13,040 Speaker 1: of the rackets that they ran at the markets, and Laboreo, 157 00:10:13,679 --> 00:10:16,680 Speaker 1: although he told the police that he had no enemies 158 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:19,680 Speaker 1: and that he had many friends and that he had 159 00:10:19,679 --> 00:10:22,880 Speaker 1: no idea who blew his car up, it would appear 160 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:26,640 Speaker 1: that he actually blamed Rocco Medici and a sort of 161 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:30,840 Speaker 1: a splinter group of the Collabrium mafia, and that he 162 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:34,680 Speaker 1: arranged for Roco Medici to be killed and have his 163 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:38,000 Speaker 1: ears cut off in order to send a lesson to 164 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:42,280 Speaker 1: the others. And it was Joe Rossi, a henchman of 165 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:45,280 Speaker 1: his a driver. I think he described as like a 166 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:48,040 Speaker 1: bodyguard guy who did the sort of dirty work of 167 00:10:48,679 --> 00:10:54,160 Speaker 1: conning Medici to go to Griffith. But when Rossi's faced 168 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:57,920 Speaker 1: with this dilemma of Giuseppe Farina turning up, he sneaks 169 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:02,400 Speaker 1: off and calls Bernuto the Boreo, the Boss, the Godfather. 170 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:06,760 Speaker 1: It says, Boss, we's that effect. There's another guy here, 171 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:09,280 Speaker 1: his brother in law. What do I do about him? 172 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:13,120 Speaker 1: He's got nothing to do with it. And apparently what 173 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:16,440 Speaker 1: Laboio ben Bernuto said was bad luck. He's just a 174 00:11:16,480 --> 00:11:18,600 Speaker 1: guy that's in the wrong place at the wrong time. 175 00:11:18,679 --> 00:11:20,760 Speaker 1: He's got to go to because he's going to be 176 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:24,640 Speaker 1: a witness. So they both got killed and that was that, 177 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:29,160 Speaker 1: which tells you the cold bloodedness of the brotherhood. The 178 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:32,240 Speaker 1: brothers aren't all that good to each other. When push 179 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:35,920 Speaker 1: comes to shove, and he becomes an interesting point that 180 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:41,440 Speaker 1: I've never forgotten. When the New South Wales police hooked 181 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:43,560 Speaker 1: the guys out of the river and identified them and 182 00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:48,400 Speaker 1: then contacted their Victorian police to tell the families the 183 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:51,360 Speaker 1: next of kin. The Victorian police go around and knock 184 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:55,000 Speaker 1: on the doors of these two dead guys in East Keelor. 185 00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:56,920 Speaker 1: I think they lived, certainly one of them did. I 186 00:11:56,920 --> 00:12:00,280 Speaker 1: think they both did. And when they knocked on the 187 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:03,240 Speaker 1: doors at these two houses, the doors were opened by 188 00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:06,720 Speaker 1: in both cases widows who were in tears and wearing 189 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:12,080 Speaker 1: black already they knew before the Victorian police knew that 190 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:15,800 Speaker 1: their husbands were dead. And that is how it works 191 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:21,400 Speaker 1: inside the Calabriam mafia. No one says nothing, but they 192 00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:25,120 Speaker 1: know very well what's going on. And that is an 193 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:30,000 Speaker 1: insight into the workings of the Calabrium mafia that we've 194 00:12:30,040 --> 00:12:33,080 Speaker 1: seen before in different ways. I think we've told the 195 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:36,480 Speaker 1: story before, but we might repeat it that when a 196 00:12:36,559 --> 00:12:40,760 Speaker 1: trotting trainer just outside Melbourne, east of Melbourne out at 197 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:44,280 Speaker 1: officer I think it was out near Crambon when he 198 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:49,800 Speaker 1: fell foul of the mafia guys who were rigging races 199 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:53,240 Speaker 1: in the harness racing shock horror. They rigged racist at 200 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:57,000 Speaker 1: the harness racing in the bad old days. This a 201 00:12:57,000 --> 00:12:59,880 Speaker 1: good old trainer. He actually won a race on it 202 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:03,120 Speaker 1: Merits without stopping his horse or doing whatever it was 203 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:06,360 Speaker 1: that the mafia guys wanted him to do. And next 204 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:10,320 Speaker 1: thing his stable is set alight, which was very sad 205 00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:13,240 Speaker 1: because it burnt to death several horses, a whole heap 206 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:16,600 Speaker 1: of horses. It was in the evening, I think it 207 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:20,640 Speaker 1: was just in the early evening that this happened. And 208 00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:24,280 Speaker 1: he just put the horses in a fraction early. It 209 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:25,880 Speaker 1: might have been a cold night and he put them 210 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:27,400 Speaker 1: in a faction early and he'd gone up to the 211 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:31,000 Speaker 1: house a bit earlier than he usually would, or else 212 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:33,160 Speaker 1: he would have been in the stable as well and 213 00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:36,080 Speaker 1: he could have been burnt. It was a terrible crime 214 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:40,760 Speaker 1: and the you know, the police were most concerned about it. 215 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:44,880 Speaker 1: The family were outraged. It was a terrible thing and 216 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:48,360 Speaker 1: the police had a fair idea who you know, who 217 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:51,840 Speaker 1: was behind this or could be behind it, and they said, 218 00:13:51,880 --> 00:13:55,760 Speaker 1: that's the Godfather up near Mildura. And so four police 219 00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:59,240 Speaker 1: got in a car and they drove to Milderier to 220 00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:02,680 Speaker 1: see the Godfather, not Laboreo of in Venuto, a different 221 00:14:02,679 --> 00:14:07,000 Speaker 1: Godfather altogether. This was a mill dura Godfather. And when 222 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:10,040 Speaker 1: they got up there, they go out to the Godfather's 223 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:13,680 Speaker 1: big house, which is by way of being called a 224 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:16,520 Speaker 1: grass castle, as they call them up there, because they're 225 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:22,840 Speaker 1: very big, massive, expensive, you know, ninety three squares of 226 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:25,520 Speaker 1: bad taste houses that cost a lot of money to build, 227 00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:28,080 Speaker 1: because these guys got a lot of cash to spend 228 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:30,640 Speaker 1: on tradesmen. And the reason they've got a lot of 229 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:33,240 Speaker 1: cash to spend on tradesmen is that they sell a 230 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:35,360 Speaker 1: lot of marijuana. 231 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:37,720 Speaker 2: Was really what they did. Mostly. 232 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:40,800 Speaker 1: They call it up there, they call it Calabrian corn. 233 00:14:41,080 --> 00:14:44,320 Speaker 1: And when they get out to the Godfather's house, they 234 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:48,760 Speaker 1: drive a long and tiring journey, you know, many hours driving. 235 00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:52,160 Speaker 1: They drive up the drive, long drive, and they pull 236 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:55,320 Speaker 1: up in their dusty police car and they get out 237 00:14:55,320 --> 00:14:58,320 Speaker 1: and they go in and there's the Godfather and he 238 00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:01,080 Speaker 1: opens the door before they even knock on it. He says, 239 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:07,560 Speaker 1: hello John, Hello Andrew, Hello Sergeant Smith, and hello Brett 240 00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:11,560 Speaker 1: or whatever he named them all. And then he said, 241 00:15:11,560 --> 00:15:13,240 Speaker 1: come in and have a cup of coffee. You've had 242 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:17,880 Speaker 1: a very very exhausting trip. And he said you, of course, 243 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:21,240 Speaker 1: John will have a short black, and you Brett will 244 00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:23,480 Speaker 1: have a flat white, and you Charlie will have a 245 00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:26,880 Speaker 1: latte and so on. What he was showing them was 246 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:30,520 Speaker 1: he knew their names, he knew they were coming, he 247 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:34,840 Speaker 1: knew their names, and he knew what coffees they drank. 248 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:38,760 Speaker 1: And this was a very chilling reminder to these guys 249 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:43,560 Speaker 1: that the Godfather had more information about them than they 250 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:47,560 Speaker 1: had about him. And that really did put a bit 251 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:51,040 Speaker 1: of a chill on these guys about the way they 252 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:55,280 Speaker 1: proceeded with that investigation, because it probably made them think, well, 253 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:58,240 Speaker 1: if he can burn down a stable full of horses, 254 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:02,000 Speaker 1: you know, four hundred kilometers from here, and he knows 255 00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:05,120 Speaker 1: who we are and what coffees we drink, there's a 256 00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:06,800 Speaker 1: lot of other stuff he could do as well. And 257 00:16:06,880 --> 00:16:08,640 Speaker 1: I think it might have slowed them down a bit. 258 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:12,160 Speaker 1: That's according to one of the police who told me 259 00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:14,200 Speaker 1: the story one of the guys that went there, and 260 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:19,680 Speaker 1: I've never forgotten it, and it is a reminder in 261 00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:23,520 Speaker 1: all these Collabrian stories of what goes on behind the 262 00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:29,920 Speaker 1: scenes from Mildeura back to the Murum Bidjie. So when 263 00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:32,840 Speaker 1: the police pull the bodies out, they realize that not 264 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:36,320 Speaker 1: only the ears are hacked off roc O Medici, but 265 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:38,240 Speaker 1: that he's been a shot a couple of times in 266 00:16:38,280 --> 00:16:41,000 Speaker 1: the head, and that he's been stabbed in the stomach. 267 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:44,680 Speaker 1: And what I think my take on that is that 268 00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:48,680 Speaker 1: it wasn't actually torture. It was probably an attempt to 269 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:52,440 Speaker 1: make sure that that body didn't float. That they tend 270 00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:55,640 Speaker 1: to rip the guts open in something that they don't 271 00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:58,160 Speaker 1: want to float, so that it won't bloat. If the 272 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:00,520 Speaker 1: stomach he's cut open, it won't the body bloat and 273 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:04,479 Speaker 1: won't float. Why they didn't do it to the other fellow, 274 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:07,119 Speaker 1: I don't know, or maybe they did and it just 275 00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:08,919 Speaker 1: wasn't reported. I don't know. 276 00:17:10,119 --> 00:17:11,600 Speaker 2: Interesting thing, I doubt. 277 00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:14,560 Speaker 1: It was actually an active torture might have been hard 278 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:19,120 Speaker 1: to know. The fact that this was essentially a Victorian 279 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:24,560 Speaker 1: mafia murder but it occurred interstate in Griffith, in the 280 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:28,120 Speaker 1: River area in New South Wales shows you how difficult 281 00:17:28,119 --> 00:17:31,240 Speaker 1: it is for interstate police to get a grip on things. 282 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:34,000 Speaker 1: Because it's the New South Wales police that have called 283 00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:36,679 Speaker 1: to the event, you know, some days after it's happened. Whatever, 284 00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:39,760 Speaker 1: they haul out the bodies, they've got to do the 285 00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:43,600 Speaker 1: coronial thing and all the rest of it. Then they've 286 00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:46,600 Speaker 1: got to pass it to the Victorian police to investigate 287 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:48,439 Speaker 1: who might have had a motive to do it and 288 00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:49,520 Speaker 1: who actually did it. 289 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:51,320 Speaker 2: So it just is. 290 00:17:51,359 --> 00:17:55,960 Speaker 1: Another layer of complication for the police that they don't 291 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:59,520 Speaker 1: need when they're dealing, you know, with mafia people who 292 00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:04,840 Speaker 1: are fairly efficient at what they did and also extremely 293 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:09,080 Speaker 1: good at staying quiet about it. The tradition of omita 294 00:18:09,119 --> 00:18:13,960 Speaker 1: of silence was taken very seriously by nearly all of 295 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:17,880 Speaker 1: these people, particularly in that era. This is forty odd 296 00:18:17,960 --> 00:18:21,240 Speaker 1: years ago now and it was a different generation and 297 00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:22,120 Speaker 1: they took. 298 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:23,520 Speaker 2: Their vows very seriously. 299 00:18:24,119 --> 00:18:28,919 Speaker 1: Of course, Victorian detectives had the same problems when they 300 00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:32,560 Speaker 1: were investigating Frank ben Venuto's death that won in bo 301 00:18:32,680 --> 00:18:36,800 Speaker 1: Morrison the year twenty twenty five years ago. There were 302 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:39,760 Speaker 1: plenty of people around who might have had a grudge 303 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:47,440 Speaker 1: against Frank, including friends and relatives of his estranged brother 304 00:18:47,520 --> 00:18:51,960 Speaker 1: in law, the late Alfonso Muratore. And I say the 305 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:55,760 Speaker 1: late because he had been shot dead in Hampton just 306 00:18:56,119 --> 00:18:58,760 Speaker 1: a few years earlier, not in May, though he was 307 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:01,280 Speaker 1: shot in August I think, so that was a little 308 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:06,359 Speaker 1: bit different. But Alfonso Miratore was a member of a 309 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:10,880 Speaker 1: basically a Victorian mafia family, and he, like a lot 310 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:14,600 Speaker 1: of people in those families, married sort of inside the clan. 311 00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:17,320 Speaker 1: He married a ben Venuto girl. 312 00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:18,960 Speaker 2: He married one of. 313 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:23,720 Speaker 1: The godfather's daughters, as in Laboreo Benvenuto, as in the 314 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:26,119 Speaker 1: guy who had his car blown up, as in the 315 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:28,880 Speaker 1: guy who ordered the murders of the two guys in Griffith. 316 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:32,440 Speaker 1: Alfonso married that guy's daughter. Now that's good if you 317 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:35,480 Speaker 1: want a big wedding and you want to have a 318 00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:37,720 Speaker 1: bit of spending money, and you want to have big 319 00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:40,600 Speaker 1: Sunday lunches and kiss people on the cheeks and all 320 00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:44,159 Speaker 1: that good mafia stuff. It's wonderful. But it brings with 321 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:46,560 Speaker 1: it some pressures. And one of the pressures that brings 322 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:51,320 Speaker 1: is a there's pressure on Alfonso to step up and 323 00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:54,119 Speaker 1: take part in the home sort of mafia ritual and 324 00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:57,879 Speaker 1: maybe take over a role in the crime family. And 325 00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:00,919 Speaker 1: there's also another problem. Those a you guys lived by 326 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:05,920 Speaker 1: a very strict moral code in the sense that while 327 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:07,879 Speaker 1: a lot of them were a bit inclined to have 328 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:12,800 Speaker 1: girlfriends on the side, tony soprano sort of stuff, they 329 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:19,560 Speaker 1: were very much against marriages, breaking up, etc. And Alfonso 330 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:23,600 Speaker 1: Mirotore was sort of the modern young guy. I think 331 00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:26,879 Speaker 1: he was probably born in Australia at came when he 332 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:29,960 Speaker 1: was two years old or something, and he took it 333 00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:37,280 Speaker 1: upon himself to leave his wife, the godfather's daughter. And 334 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:40,760 Speaker 1: this went down like a lead balloon. I was going 335 00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:43,040 Speaker 1: to say like something in a swimming pool, but no, 336 00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:47,320 Speaker 1: like a lead balloon. And he also put another hole 337 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:52,800 Speaker 1: in his manners. Apart from his personal bedroom adventures, his 338 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:57,360 Speaker 1: other problem was that he had approached Cole's or Cole's 339 00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:01,560 Speaker 1: as it was, who you know, they run big supermarkets, 340 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:06,320 Speaker 1: and he told in a very secret meeting, really secret, 341 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:11,000 Speaker 1: really dangerous high level staff, he said, you guys have 342 00:21:11,119 --> 00:21:15,480 Speaker 1: been paying millions a year to subsidize a racket because 343 00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:18,119 Speaker 1: and he explained to them the racket that there's a 344 00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:22,119 Speaker 1: fifty cents per case of fruit and vegetables at the 345 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:25,399 Speaker 1: wholesale market payable to the mafia and have been paid 346 00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:30,840 Speaker 1: on every case, every day of the year for decades. 347 00:21:31,119 --> 00:21:34,080 Speaker 1: And this ran into millions of dollars a year. This 348 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:37,520 Speaker 1: little tax, not a little tax, really are quite a 349 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:43,320 Speaker 1: hefty tax that the mafia guys imposed on the wholesale 350 00:21:43,359 --> 00:21:46,720 Speaker 1: fruit and vegetable market. How they did this is that 351 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:52,159 Speaker 1: they had corrupt buyers from the supermarkets, and the corrupt 352 00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:55,760 Speaker 1: buyers from the supermarkets were told, you will only buy 353 00:21:56,119 --> 00:21:59,600 Speaker 1: from these suppliers, that the wholesaler there, that one and 354 00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:01,560 Speaker 1: that one, you won't buy from the others. 355 00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:05,639 Speaker 2: And what it was that those wholesale suppliers. 356 00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:08,160 Speaker 1: Were paying the fifty cents to the mafia to get 357 00:22:08,359 --> 00:22:12,320 Speaker 1: favored status. And of course the mafia guys would pay 358 00:22:12,359 --> 00:22:15,719 Speaker 1: a backhanded to the Coals and other supermarket buyers. They 359 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:18,440 Speaker 1: give them a backhander for going along with it and 360 00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:22,919 Speaker 1: buying from their favored suppliers. It was all very cozy, 361 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:25,320 Speaker 1: and it was all very corrupt, and in the end 362 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:29,040 Speaker 1: it was costing the supermarket's money, and that money was 363 00:22:29,119 --> 00:22:31,680 Speaker 1: being passed on to the consumer. You know, every time 364 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:34,280 Speaker 1: you bought a banana, there was a built in cost 365 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:36,879 Speaker 1: on it. Not a lot per banana, of course, but 366 00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:41,720 Speaker 1: it all adds up. Alfonso Miro Torre Bright Young Spark 367 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:45,520 Speaker 1: thought it was a good idea to talk to Coals 368 00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:49,960 Speaker 1: about this and to come up with an alternate plan. 369 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:52,000 Speaker 1: Now I don't know what his idea was. I don't 370 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:54,200 Speaker 1: think he was doing it because he's just a really 371 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:57,480 Speaker 1: good bloke and a really honest plug. I think probably 372 00:22:57,560 --> 00:23:00,680 Speaker 1: he was saying, you're spending millions a year on this 373 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:04,800 Speaker 1: fifty cents a case racket. I can source you wholesale 374 00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:08,560 Speaker 1: fruit and vegetables a bit cheaper than that, but you've 375 00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:11,040 Speaker 1: got to deal with me or something. He was basically 376 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:14,720 Speaker 1: selling out the mafia, his own family and friends and 377 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:19,480 Speaker 1: associates in order to enrich himself. Now, this is a 378 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:23,480 Speaker 1: very high of his strategy. If you've also left the 379 00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:28,920 Speaker 1: godfather's daughter to live with your ossie skip girlfriend whose 380 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:32,399 Speaker 1: name was Karen Mansfield, in the same suburb where they 381 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:35,639 Speaker 1: all live, this was really rubbing people's nose in it. 382 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:39,359 Speaker 1: So there were quite a few people who weren't fond 383 00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:42,720 Speaker 1: of Alfonso Miratore, which is why in nineteen ninety two, 384 00:23:43,920 --> 00:23:48,720 Speaker 1: Alfonso Miratore gets out of bed with Karen Mansfield and says, 385 00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:50,880 Speaker 1: see you, lay of love. I'm off to the markets again. 386 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:53,760 Speaker 1: It's two am or whatever time they go to the 387 00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:59,159 Speaker 1: market and he steps outside. I think with Karen Mansfield's stepfather, 388 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:00,720 Speaker 1: he has outside to. 389 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:02,480 Speaker 2: Get in his car. 390 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:07,000 Speaker 1: Next thing, kabluey, there's a couple of shotgun blasts and 391 00:24:07,359 --> 00:24:14,160 Speaker 1: he's shot extremely dead in Hampton, and this had happened 392 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:19,920 Speaker 1: an exact facsimile of his own father's death. His father, 393 00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:24,639 Speaker 1: Vince Mirrortore, had been shot dead with a shotgun in 394 00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:27,600 Speaker 1: the same suburb of Hampton at two o'clock in the 395 00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:30,520 Speaker 1: morning when he was going to the market back in 396 00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:34,720 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty four. Back in nineteen sixty four, Alfonso's dad, 397 00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:40,719 Speaker 1: Vince Mirrortore, big wheel in the Melbourne mafia market business. 398 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:44,720 Speaker 1: He's going to work and he gets shot with a shotgun. 399 00:24:45,359 --> 00:24:50,879 Speaker 1: History repeated itself. Both father and son, their murders remain unsolved, 400 00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:56,719 Speaker 1: and they are cold cases that will remain cold, probably forever. 401 00:24:57,080 --> 00:25:01,160 Speaker 1: It's just one of those funny things. Now the mirror 402 00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:05,600 Speaker 1: Toure's father and son killed twenty eight years apart. They 403 00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:09,040 Speaker 1: were not killed in May, which is unusual because other 404 00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:12,240 Speaker 1: people were. And we're just getting to a couple. One 405 00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:16,440 Speaker 1: was a Calabrian green grocer called Joe Kuadara. Now Joe, 406 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:18,800 Speaker 1: a lot of our listeners will remember this. He was 407 00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:22,800 Speaker 1: shot dead outside a two rak supermarket. Now this is 408 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:26,359 Speaker 1: this is not out in Thomastown somewhere, listeners, this is 409 00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:29,240 Speaker 1: tu Rak. It was in Track and he was there. 410 00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:33,040 Speaker 1: He was about to open up the green grocery part 411 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:35,480 Speaker 1: of the supermarket very early in the morning to unload 412 00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:41,000 Speaker 1: a truckload of green groceries and somebody pops up and 413 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:45,639 Speaker 1: shoots him, and that was very sad. His name Joe Quadhara. 414 00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:49,160 Speaker 1: His name is interesting. This happened on May the twenty eighth, 415 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:53,480 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety nine. His name is interesting because there was 416 00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:57,359 Speaker 1: also involved in the fruit and veggie market, another man. 417 00:25:57,280 --> 00:25:58,320 Speaker 2: Called Joe Quadhara. 418 00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:02,680 Speaker 1: And what the police to this day I believe aren't 419 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:08,000 Speaker 1: sure of is whether the killers intended to shoot the 420 00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:11,080 Speaker 1: Joe Kuadaro who got shot, or whether they mixed him up, 421 00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:15,040 Speaker 1: whether he was just an average Joe and they meant 422 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:17,920 Speaker 1: to shoot the other one. It wouldn't be the first 423 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:22,720 Speaker 1: time that a gangland target had been murdered by mistake 424 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:28,640 Speaker 1: if that's what happened. But it's unclear. Because both these 425 00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:35,760 Speaker 1: guys were Calabrian greengrosser market guys. They both involved, to 426 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:38,840 Speaker 1: a gag or lesser extent in the doings of the 427 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:43,639 Speaker 1: wholesale fruit and veggie market, and it was possible that 428 00:26:44,119 --> 00:26:47,600 Speaker 1: somebody had a grievance against either of them, so we'll 429 00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:51,119 Speaker 1: never be sure why he was shot or if it 430 00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:54,520 Speaker 1: was a mistake. The police are fairly confident that the 431 00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:57,440 Speaker 1: person that did the shooting was probably Andrew Veneman, the 432 00:26:57,520 --> 00:27:00,159 Speaker 1: late Benji Venamon. They're pretty confident that he was the 433 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:03,159 Speaker 1: guy that shot Frank ben Veernuto over in Bow Morris, 434 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:09,080 Speaker 1: and they're fairly sure that Benji Veneman was also responsible 435 00:27:09,119 --> 00:27:13,119 Speaker 1: for shooting Victor Pierce. Victor Pierce was the one we 436 00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:18,160 Speaker 1: mentioned fifteen minutes ago. He was the gunman, Ozzie gunman, 437 00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:22,680 Speaker 1: bag guy, Wall Street killer, thoroughly bad unit. He was 438 00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:26,960 Speaker 1: the guy that Frank ben Ernudo tried to call as 439 00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:31,920 Speaker 1: Frank was dying after he was shot, and the relationship 440 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:34,800 Speaker 1: there was not a cozy one. It says that Victor 441 00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:37,959 Speaker 1: Pierce was a gun for hire and he acted as 442 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:41,200 Speaker 1: a heavy for ben Veernudo around the market. You know, 443 00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:44,080 Speaker 1: he'd stalk around with the gun and lean on people 444 00:27:44,119 --> 00:27:47,560 Speaker 1: and all the rest of it. It could be that 445 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:51,720 Speaker 1: somebody somewhere, one of the ben Venudo family might have 446 00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:56,720 Speaker 1: thought that Victor Pierce might have flipped their brother Frank 447 00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:02,240 Speaker 1: and sold Frank down the river, and that maybe Victor 448 00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:07,480 Speaker 1: Pierce had double crossed his employer, Frank Benvenuto, because these 449 00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:10,080 Speaker 1: things do happen in the underworld. There is no real 450 00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:16,360 Speaker 1: loyalty except to greed and to money. And amazingly, exactly 451 00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:20,200 Speaker 1: two years after Frank Benvenuto was shot in by Morris, 452 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:24,440 Speaker 1: Victor Pierce is shot in his car in Bay Street, 453 00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:28,399 Speaker 1: Port Melbourne in May two thousand and two. The smart 454 00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:31,119 Speaker 1: money says that Andrew Veneman did that as well. He 455 00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:34,479 Speaker 1: did them all they reckon. But what the police were 456 00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:37,240 Speaker 1: really interested in knowing is who paid him to do it, 457 00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:41,040 Speaker 1: who was involved in the conspiracy. In the end, venomin 458 00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:45,200 Speaker 1: was just a rat bag trigger man who was rattling 459 00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:50,680 Speaker 1: his cage, who was paying him And interestingly, about six 460 00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:55,920 Speaker 1: years afterwards, the police arrested some people over the Victor 461 00:28:55,960 --> 00:28:58,560 Speaker 1: Pierce murder and one of the people they arrested was 462 00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:04,040 Speaker 1: Vince ben Venuto, brother of Frank, son of Laboreo and 463 00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:08,360 Speaker 1: a middle aged mafia figure. Of middle aged mafia figure, 464 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:13,080 Speaker 1: and he was put under intense pressure to talk about 465 00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:15,600 Speaker 1: what he knew about the shooting of Victor Pierce and 466 00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:18,640 Speaker 1: why and all that he said exactly nothing. One of 467 00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:20,880 Speaker 1: the main suspects at the time was a fellow called 468 00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:23,960 Speaker 1: Mick Gatto, but it was never prosecuted because there was 469 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:28,960 Speaker 1: never any useful evidence forwarded about who planned it. 470 00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:33,800 Speaker 2: A prosecution was pulled off successfully. 471 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:37,960 Speaker 1: Against Farouk Ormond now fruk Rman was allegedly. 472 00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:39,040 Speaker 2: The police alleged that he was the. 473 00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:43,080 Speaker 1: Getaway driver for Andrew Bennerman and that he had pulled 474 00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:46,400 Speaker 1: up in a I think a Holden Commodore and driven 475 00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:49,040 Speaker 1: off nice and slowly, as you must if you are 476 00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:52,240 Speaker 1: getting away from a hit. Do not speed away, do 477 00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:55,960 Speaker 1: not run red lights. Drive a white Commodore or another 478 00:29:56,160 --> 00:29:59,080 Speaker 1: plane car, probably a Toyota Camry would be a good choice. 479 00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:03,280 Speaker 1: Will be white in color, and use your blinkers. Don't speed, 480 00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:06,440 Speaker 1: turn left, turn right, do everything nice and slow so 481 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:10,280 Speaker 1: you don't stand out. And that's what happened. But Fruit 482 00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:15,800 Speaker 1: Corman was indeed arrested for his alleged to part in 483 00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:20,440 Speaker 1: this murder plot, this hit. But he was convicted partly 484 00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:25,520 Speaker 1: on the evidence of the information that flowed from lawyer 485 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:30,440 Speaker 1: x Nicola Gobbo and as our devoted listeners and readers 486 00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:33,320 Speaker 1: of the Herald Son will know, as a result of that, 487 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:38,160 Speaker 1: fru Corman, through the work of a very energetic advocate. 488 00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:43,640 Speaker 1: He was released from prison. Several years later, his conviction 489 00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:46,800 Speaker 1: was overturned. He was released from prison. I'm not sure 490 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:48,880 Speaker 1: if he's got a big payout now. He may well 491 00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:51,920 Speaker 1: have got a payout anyway. He ended up, of course, 492 00:30:51,960 --> 00:30:55,560 Speaker 1: in the welcoming arms of the CFMEU. And just for 493 00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:59,200 Speaker 1: the record, Vince ben Venuto, who may still be with us, 494 00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:05,200 Speaker 1: be reasonably old now. But Vince was not convicted. He 495 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:09,280 Speaker 1: was acquitted and released and he lives a quiet life 496 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:13,080 Speaker 1: these days. One hopes there's not a lot of morals 497 00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:17,080 Speaker 1: in the fruit and vegetable market mafia. But if there 498 00:31:17,160 --> 00:31:20,640 Speaker 1: is a moral in this story, this is it that 499 00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:23,920 Speaker 1: fruit and vegetables are good for you, but only if 500 00:31:23,960 --> 00:31:26,960 Speaker 1: you eat them instead of trying to corner the market. 501 00:31:28,040 --> 00:31:31,120 Speaker 1: As for the month of May, it's the one month 502 00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:34,920 Speaker 1: of the year when Melbourne mobsters ought to consider a 503 00:31:35,040 --> 00:31:40,400 Speaker 1: trip to Vegas or Chicago or New York or anywhere 504 00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:50,240 Speaker 1: that's safer than Melbourne. Thanks for listening. Life and Crimes 505 00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:53,880 Speaker 1: is a Sunday Herald Sun production for True crime Australia. 506 00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:58,840 Speaker 1: Our producer is Johnty Burton. For my columns, features and more, 507 00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:05,040 Speaker 1: go to Sun dot com dot au forward slash Andrew rule. 508 00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:05,920 Speaker 1: One word. 509 00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:11,880 Speaker 3: For advertising inquiries, go to news Podcasts Sold at news 510 00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:15,800 Speaker 3: dot com dot au. That is all one word news 511 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:18,840 Speaker 3: podcasts sold And if you 512 00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:24,160 Speaker 1: Want further information about this episode, links are in the description.