The Supreme Court of Victoria

On 13 October 1999, Williams was shot in the abdomen by Jason Moran because he owed the Morans thousands of dollars. This event gave rise to a lengthy underworld war known popularly as the Melbourne gangland killings. In 2002 after meeting through a mutual friend Tony Mokbel, Carl Williams would court the services of the murderer Andrew Veniamin as his right hand man until late 2003.

Mark Moran

Mark Moran was shot on 15 June 2000 after arriving at his home in Aberfeldie. Williams was due to stand trial for his murder, but the charge was dropped when he pleaded guilty to other murders.

Jason Moran

Jason Moran and associate Pasquale Barbaro were shot dead sitting in Moran's car at a football club in Essendon, on 21 June 2003. Williams ordered two associates to carry out the murder. The location of the shooting was reported to be behind the Cross Keys Hotel in Strathmore, Victoria. The murder was witnessed by six children aged 6 and under.

Mark Mallia

Mark Mallia was an associate of murdered underworld criminal, Nik Radev. At 8.05 am on 18 August 2003 a fire was reported in a stormwater drain in Sunshine. Fire brigade members attending to the fire recovered a wheelie bin containing the remains of a charred body inside, later identified as Mallia.

Michael Marshall

Marshall was shot outside his luxury South Yarra home in front of his five-year-old son on 25 October 2003.

Lewis Moran

Lewis Moran was shot dead in the inner-city Brunswick Club on 31 March 2004. Williams pleaded guilty to his murder.

Arrest and confession

On 28 February 2007, Williams pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court of Victoria to the murders of Lewis Moran, his son Jason Moran and Mark Mallia (whose name was initially suppressed by the court).

Williams also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder gangland rival Mario Condello. A suppression order prevented the media from reporting this until the day of sentencing. Under a deal with police, Williams was not charged for his alleged involvement in orchestrating the murder of Mark Moran, Jason Moran's half brother.

It was also revealed that Williams was serving a sentence of 21 years for the 2003 murder of Michael Marshall. The outcome of this trial had previously been suppressed.

School fees revelation

On 19 April 2010 News Limited newspapers including the Herald Sun revealed that Victoria Police are paying $8000 in school fees for Williams' daughter. The reason for the payment has not been disclosed. Williams' lawyer Rob Stary said Williams was upset about the publication of the story.

There was speculation that the police may have agreed to pay the school fees in exchange for information, and that publication of the story may have led to Williams' death. The Herald Sun has defended its publication of the story.

Death

On 19 April 2010, Williams died from head injury while incarcerated at Barwon Prison. It is alleged that he was struck with part of an exercise bike by another inmate—Matthew Charles Johnson— who has since been charged with murder.

Williams' funeral was held on 30 April 2010 at St Therese's Catholic Church in Essendon. In January 2011 it was reported that William's resting place had still not received a headstone and consisted of a nameless plot.

Wikipedia.org

Crunch time for Williams

John Silvester

May 7, 2007

CARL Williams spent years successfully avoiding an assassin's bullet only to slowly commit legal suicide in a series of bizarre courtroom acts. It will culminate today when he is sentenced in a specially secured Supreme Court by Justice Betty King.

The baby-faced killer turned his back on a sweet legal deal after ignoring his lawyer's advice to shut up in court and at least pretend to be sorry for launching a bloody vendetta that cost more than a dozen lives.

Williams agreed to plead guilty to the murders of Mark Mallia (August 2003), Jason Moran (June 2003) and Lewis Moran (March 2004). He had previously been found guilty of the murder of Michael Marshall who was shot dead outside his Toorak home in October 2003.

In agreeing to plead guilty, Williams cut a deal that literally meant he got away with murder. Police say he killed Mark Moran (June 2000) and was involved in the murders of Willie Thompson (July 2003), Nik Radev (April 2003), Victor Peirce (May 2002). He was directly responsible for the death of Pasquale Barbaro who was accidentally shot dead by one of Williams' hitmen while murdering Jason Moran.

Williams is also suspected of ordering the murder of Graeme Kinniburgh who was shot dead outside his Kew home in December 2003 and being connected with several more gangland killings.

Paranoid, frightened and self-deluded, the man who called himself "The Premier" — because "I run this f---ing state" — was stopped only when arrested by the Purana gangland taskforce in May 2004.

He survived and prospered by surrounding himself with a gang of soldiers whose loyalty he won with a combination of drugs, money, power and women.

But once inside, key men wavered. Williams forgot to look after some of his men, leaving one hitman to battle through a murder trial on legal aide while he was defended by a Queen's Counsel.

One by one they broke the code of silence and became prosecution witnesses. Key members of the Williams' camp crossed the floor leaving the Premier without the numbers to survive.

So why then did the prosecution accept a plea and do a deal with the multiple killer? Why didn't they convict him again and again for the murders he committed?

Because it would have taken up to 10 years and cost millions of dollars. It would also have given Williams the public platform and the media attention he craves. By locking him away they condemn him to — as he has declared himself — a life of Groundhog Day.

Williams first made noises that he might be prepared to do a deal as early as November last year. He implied he had information that could help crack the murders of police informer Terence Hodson and his wife Christine, who were shot dead in their Kew home in May 2004.

Detectives believe rogue police were responsible for the double murder so if Williams could have provided information he would have been able to demand a savage discount on his sentence.

But he was teasing. If Williams knew anything about the double murder, he wasn't talking.

Before agreeing to plead guilty, Williams sent his now-estranged wife, Roberta, to see Mick Gatto — a man he once wanted to kill. Gatto was a friend of the Morans, and Williams always feared the former heavyweight boxer would launch a savage counter-attack. Gatto shot dead one of Williams' gunmen, Andrew Veniamin, in a Carlton restaurant in March 2004. He was acquitted on the grounds of self defence.

Roberta Williams told Gatto her husband was on the verge of cutting a deal but would not be talking to police about the Carlton identity. Gatto told her he didn't care as he had nothing to hide.

During the long pre-trial process before Williams' was due to face the court for murdering Jason Moran and Pasquale Barbaro, his lawyers asked Justice King if he pleaded guilty, would the sentence be "crushing". While no promises were made they were told Williams could expect to see some light at the end of the tunnel.

Justice King was talking through hard legal precedent. The former hard-hitting prosecutor and senior member of the National Crime Authority was well aware of the case law surrounding guilty pleas.

Paul Charles Denyer is a serial killer who stalked and murdered three women in Frankston in 1993. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life with no minimum by Supreme Court Justice Frank Vincent, but on appeal he was given a minimum of 30 years on the grounds that should receive a discount because of his guilty plea.

Leslie Alfred Camilleri, who killed two Bega schoolgirls in 1997, pleaded not guilty and was given life with no minimum. His partner, Lindsay Hoani Beckett, pleaded guilty and received a minimum of 35 years.

Justice King knew that if Williams pleaded guilty she would be required to set a minimum sentence. The maximum of life was never in doubt.

Williams said he wanted a sentence that would give him some chance of getting out by the age of 70. Purana police said they would push for a lighter sentence if he was prepared to become a witness in subsequent trials.

They wanted him to turn on his former role model, multimillionaire drug boss Tony Mokbel, who fled Australia in March last year.

Mokbel paid Williams to organise murders — including the hit on Michael Marshall. While the case against Mokbel is compelling, Williams' testimony would make it bulletproof.

While Williams may be many things, he remains an old-school crook who believes in the code of silence.

The whole underworld war began when he was shot in the stomach by half brothers Mark and Jason Moran in 1999. Even back then he refused to tell police who shot him.

After he decided to plead guilty he made one statement to detectives. It is a self-serving, rambling document that talks of corruption with few facts and has been judged to be of no evidentiary value.

So without a promise to become a Crown witness, Williams' negotiating position was weakened. The final deal struck was that prosecutors would not demand a crushing sentence and would not oppose a move for Williams' father, George, to receive a suspended sentence for pending drug charges.

In effect, sentencing was to be left to Justice King without the prosecution lobbying for the longest jail term possible.

When Williams finally agreed to the deal on February 28 — just days before the jury was to be selected — the prison van taking him back to jail was called back so the papers could be signed and the plea formally entered before he changed his mind again.

In the minutes before the court was convened his mother, Barbara, urged him to abandon the deal and take his chances before a jury. With the open and shut case against him, it was virtually certain he would have been convicted and given life with no minimum.

Once he pleaded, the rest should have been easy. He was to attend court for a public showing of mea culpa. He was to sit behind glass with a sad face and cow eyes as his lawyers said he was sorry. They would say he thought the Moran family were out to kill him; that he would leave jail as an old man and would miss seeing his daughter Dhakota grow into an adult; and, that he should receive a hefty discount because of his remorse.

But against legal advice Carl Williams insisted on giving evidence.

For just about an hour he gave ridiculous evidence contradicting known facts. He denied ever being paid money for the Marshall hit by Mokbel and tried to discredit Crown witnesses who will give evidence against some of his mates.

This meant prosecutor Geoff Horgan SC had to tear strips off Williams in a 90-minute cross-examination to protect the integrity of future Crown cases. Certainly Justice King questioned whether Williams was showing any remorse for his actions.

Williams left the court smiling. His lawyers weren't. But the self-confessed killer was fully aware that his two hours in the sun will probably cost him years in a dark cell. He told friends later he was "proud" of his performance.

He will serve his sentence with prisoners who will know he didn't dob in anyone to save himself.

Williams is not a stupid man. A psychiatric report declares him of "high average intelligence". He is not mentally ill. The report declares him to be broadly normal. But he is a man who loved being a gangster. He plotted revenge against the Morans after he was shot and then felt he had to keep killing anyone connected with them to remain alive. It was always going to end with him dead or in jail for most of his life.

One person likely to attend today's sentencing will be Judy Moran, whose estranged husband Lewis and sons Jason and Mark were killed either by, or on the orders of Carl Williams.

She has been calling for an indefinite sentence for Williams and the reintroduction of the death penalty. Mrs Moran fails to mention the underworld war was started when her drug-dealing sons shot Williams in 1999.

She also failed to lobby for capital punishment when Jason Moran was accused of the 1998 murder of gangster Alphonse Gangitano.

Also present will be many members of the Purana taskforce — men and women who were repeatedly told by politicians and media commentators that they would never solve the gangland murders because they would not break the code of silence.

Williams' loyal parents, Barbara and George, who often wears his favourite brown moccasins to court, are expected to attend. They have stood by their son through all his many court dates.

So where to for Williams?

After the excitement of the sentencing he will return to the maximum security Acacia Unit in Barwon prison where he socialises with a few loyal henchmen.

He will look forward with interest as to how he will be portrayed in a 13-part docu-drama to be filmed later this year. His role has yet to be cast although actor Shane Jacobson — star of the movie Kenny — has been mentioned as a likely candidate.

The minimum sentence will help prison officers control him. If he behaves badly in jail his eventual parole would be threatened leaving him facing life in jail. Prison officers say indefinite sentences destroy inmates because the dream of release is taken from them.

Eventually when threats die down Williams will be transferred to the mainstream and if he behaves, he will eventually move to a more comfortable jail.

But he will always be a name. As he gets older and physically weaker he will become a target. Even the toughest long-term inmates end up being at risk of being bashed or stabbed.

Sometime in the future a violent young offender may attack him just for the bragging rights.

As the years pass, he will become institutionalised. His wife Roberta will have moved on, his parents will have passed away, his daughter grown up and the glamorous blonde Renata Laureano, who pops in to jail to visit him, may have moved on.

Carl Williams may have got away with murder but there is one thing no one can beat — time. It eventually wounds all heels.

Theage.com.au

Williams in parting shot at judge

Dan Harrison

May 7, 2007

▪ Minimum 35-year jail term
▪ Maximum term of life imprisonment
▪ Due for release in 2042 — at earliest

Notorious underworld killer Carl Williams today lambasted from the dock the judge who jailed him for 35 years for what she called the "cowardly" murder of three rivals in Melbourne's bloody gangland war.

Justice Betty King handed down the sentence in a special sitting of the Supreme Court at Melbourne's County Court, with baby-faced killer Williams appearing to smirk when the 35-year minimum term was announced.

As the court adjourned, Williams said: "I have something to say."

Holding a clipboard, he told Justice King: "I expected nothing better of you. You are not a judge. You are only a puppet of the police. You are a puppet for Purana."

Justice King then asked for Williams to be removed, at which point he yelled: "Ah, get f***ed."

Williams' mother Barbara then repeated his claims to the court.

"You're not a judge, you don't deserve your wig and gown," Mrs Williams told Justice King said as she was leaving the courtroom.

Life behind bars

Today's sentence means the 36-year-old will be behind bars until he is 71.

Justice King said life imprisonment was the only appropriate penalty.

In February, Williams pleaded guilty to the murders of Mark Mallia (August 2003), Jason Moran (June 2003) and Lewis Moran (March 2004). He had previously been found guilty of the murder of Michael Marshall, who was shot dead outside his Toorak home in October 2003.

The murders occurred at the height of Melbourne's notorious gangland war that raged between 1998 and 2006, leaving 27 dead.

'Not a hero'

Justice King said there "are no other appropriate penalties for crimes of this nature, gangland executions carried out on the streets of Melbourne, in the presence of frightened men, women and children.''

She noted that Williams appeared to enjoy his notoriety, giving interviews and making statements outside court

Justice King expressed concern that he would become a "hero" to some people in the community.

"You are not," she said. "You are a killer and a cowardly one who employed others to do the actual killing, whilst you hid behind carefully constructed alibis.''

"You should not be the subject of admiration by any member of our community."

'Puppet master'

She said he arranged for others to do the killing and alibis to protect himself, describing him as a "puppet master" who decided whether people lived or died.

"I find that you were the leader of the gang," Justice King told him, adding that he was "at the top of the chain of command".

Justice King acknowledged that many of Williams' victims were engaged in criminal activity, but said it was just as unacceptable to kill criminals as it was to kill any other person.

"You do not get to be judge, jury and executioner.

"These were not vigilante killings, they were matters of expediency to you.

"You acted as though it was your right ot have these people killed."

She said he was the "counsellor and procurer" of the three murders, a
"more heinous" role than that of the killer himself.

He bore "the highest level of criminality".

'No real remorse'

Justice King imposed a life sentence for each of three murders and a 25-year sentence for conspiracy to murder gangland rival Mario Condello.

She said his crimes would normally require a sentence of life imprisonment with no minimum term, but he deserved a discount on his sentence because his guilty plea had saved up to 10 years of the court's time and countless amounts of money.

A sentence discount was appropriate to encourage such pleas.

Williams had demonstrated "no real remorse", she said.

"You have uttered words of remorse in response to questions asked of you by your counsel but I find that you have no real or genuine remorse for the victims of your crimes, only remorse that you have been caught and lost your liberty.''

'Unsatisfactory witness'

She described him as a "most unsatisfactory witness, virtually incapable of telling the truth."

Justice King said his testimony was designed to provide no evidence against people who were not already dead or convicted.

The manner of his giving evidence was "arrogant" and "almost supercilious".

"You left me with a strong impression that your view of all these murders was that they were all really justifiable and you were the real victim, having been 'forced' to admit at least some of your involvement, by the statements of other members of your group who had co-operated with police.''

'Extraordinary' killing spree

Sentencing took close to 90 minutes, in which Justice King went through the offences one-by-one and summarised each crime.

She said the killings "engendered fear" in the community and created the perception that Victoria had been plunged into a state of lawlessness.

Justice King said the three murders took place during an "extraordinary" period in Melbourne's crime history.

She said it was a time when an almost unprecedented level of very public murders of known and suspected criminals occurred.

Justice King said she would like to publicly acknowledge those involved in the case for coming to a sensible resolution.

Guilty plea

Williams had earlier pleaded guilty to murdering gangland figure Lewis Moran, his son Jason Moran and another underworld figure Mark Mallia.

He is already serving 21 years for the murder of Michael Marshall, who was gunned down outside his South Yarra home in front of his five-year-old son on October 23, 2003.

His admissions were a major breakthrough in Victoria Police's Purana Taskforce probe into eight years of blood-letting.

Lewis Moran, 58, was shot dead in the inner-city Brunswick Club on March 31, 2004.

His son Jason, 36, was shot dead as he sat in a car watching a children's football clinic in Essendon in June 2003.

Mallia's charred corpse was found in a drain in Sunshine, in Melbourne's west, in August 2003.

Outstanding charges

Under Williams' plea deal, outstanding charges against him over the murders of Jason Moran's stepbrother Mark Moran and Jason's bodyguard Pasquale Barbaro will not proceed.

In the pre-sentence hearing last week, Williams' barrister David Ross QC told the court there should be a minimum term fixed for his client.

Mr Ross asked the court to take into consideration Williams' guilty plea and that it had saved the courts and community millions of dollars in the cost of trials.

"We say there should be a minimum term fixed,'' Mr Ross said.

"That is, he should not leave prison in a box, that he should be able to walk out at some stage.''

theage.com.au, with Selma Milovanovic, AAP

How the Carl Williams story unfolded

It has been almost eight years since Melbourne's underworld war erupted with gunfire in a suburban park.

1999

OCTOBER: Brothers Jason and Mark Moran lure Carl Williams to an outer suburban Melbourne park where Jason shoots Williams in the stomach over a drug debt.

2000

JUNE: Mark Moran, 36, is shot dead outside his Essendon home while sitting in his car.

2003

JUNE: Jason Moran, 36, and his associate Pasquale Barbaro, 40, shot dead in the front seat of a van while watching a children's football clinic in Essendon.

OCTOBER: Hot dog vender and kick boxer Michael Marshall, gunned down outside his South Yarra home in front of his five-year-old son.

2004

AUGUST: Williams is charged with the murder of Jason Moran, Pasquale Barbaro and Michael Marshall.

OCTOBER: Williams is sentenced to seven years' jail after pleading guilty to drug trafficking charges.

His wife Roberta Williams was sentenced to a minimum six months in jail after being sentenced on a related drugs charge.

2005

JANUARY: Williams charged with one count of trafficking a commercial quantity of amphetamines between December 2000 and June 2002 and six counts of dealing with the proceeds of crime totalling $46,600 cash.

FEBRUARY: Charged with murdering Mark Moran.

NOVEMBER: Victorian Supreme Court jury finds Williams guilty of the murder of Michael Marshall.

2006

MARCH: A close Williams ally is sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 23 years after pleading guilty to the murder of Michael Marshall, Jason Moran and Pasquale Barbaro.

He told police he was the gunman in all three murders and Williams asked him to kill Jason Moran as revenge over the 1999 shooting.

He said Tony Mokbel asked him and Carl Williams to kill Marshall as revenge for another underworld killing.

JUNE: Another close Williams ally pleads guilty to the murder of Jason Moran and indicates to police he is prepared to assist them in Williams' trial and other matters.

JULY: Carl Williams is sentenced to 27 years jail, with a minimum term of 21 years for the murder of Michael Marshall.

A few hours later he is charged with the murder of Mark Mallia, whose remains were found in a wheelie bin dumped in a drain at the back of a soccer club in Melbourne's west in August, 2003.

2007

FEBRUARY 26: Carl Williams is charged with the murder of Lewis Moran - father to Jason and stepfather to Mark - who was killed in the inner-city Brunswick Club on March 31, 2004.

FEBRUARY 28: In a major breakthrough in Melbourne's underworld war, Carl Williams pleads guilty to the murder of Jason Moran, Lewis Moran and Mark Mallia.

The DPP announces other charges against him would not proceed - including the murder of Mark Moran.

MAY 7: Williams is sentenced to life in jail with a minimum of 35 years before he is eligible for parole.