Only months after the TV series Underbelly aired, another gangland murder dominated the headlines. On Monday 15 June 2009 Des ‘Tuppence’ Moran, the last living male member of the Moran family, was sipping coffee in his favourite Ascot Vale cafe when he was shot dead by two men wearing balaclavas. Des Moran was the brother of Lewis Moran, who was murdered in 2004 during Melbourne’s gangland war, and uncle to Mark and Jason Moran, who were also killed in the gangland war. Des was jailed in the 1980s for manufacturing amphetamines but kept a low profile after his release and was apparently the most amiable of the Moran clan. According to John Silvester, one of the Underbelly writers, he was ‘too popular and too harmless to be placed on any hit list’.
However, someone had it in for Des Moran. Witnesses at the scene say they heard gunshots and saw ‘a guy dropping to the ground’ and a car speeding away. Shortly after the murder, crime matriarch Judy Moran arrived on the scene screaming, ‘Oh Dessie, Dessie’. However, those close to the Moran family say Judy and Des detested each other. Apparently, he blamed her for a jail sentence and she resented his failure to give her financial support.
Judy Moran arrived on the scene screaming, ‘Oh Dessie, Dessie’. However, those close to the Moran family say Judy and Des detested each other.
Andrew Rule, co-author of the Underbelly books, said, ‘One thing about a lot of these fellows is that they are creatures of habit. Desmond made a habit of turning up to drink coffee at a particular deli in Union Road, they knew where to find him.’ Another source stated, after the killing, that Judy Moran had been looking for two hitmen in Sydney about six months prior.
Judy Moran
This was not the first time Des Moran had been shot at. In March 2009, while sitting in his Mercedes, a single shot was fired through the front windscreen. The bullet narrowly missed Moran and lodged in the steering wheel. At the time, police said they were ‘investigating a number of motives but did not think it was related to the underworld war’.
When asked about the shooting Moran said he had pleaded with commissioner of Victoria Police Simon Overland to be allowed to carry a gun for protection but was refused. Moran said that if he’d had a gun he would’ve fired back at his assailant. ‘I would have killed him or he would have killed me, one or the other.’
‘I would have killed him or he would have killed me, one or the other.’
Homicide and Purana squad members worked through the night to gather sufficient evidence to issue search warrants. Within hours of Des Moran’s death the police had unravelled details of the plot that allegedly implicated Moran’s relatives. Judy Moran (Des Moran’s sister-in-law) and her friend Suzanne Kane were charged with being accessories to the murder, while Ms Kane’s partner, Geoffrey ‘Nuts’ Amour, was charged with the killing. The trio all lived at Judy’s Moonee Ponds home. A forth, unidentified man was also arrested, but later released without charge. Police are still looking for another man allegedly involved in the shooting.
Judy Moran’s house was set on fire while she sat in custody that night…
The usually glamorous Judy Moran arrived at the custody centre wearing purple tracksuit pants and a scruffy black jumper, clutching a walking stick. During the hearing police told the court that nine hours after the murder Judy Moran dumped the getaway car, which contained a rifle and a gun case, on Mincha Street in Ascot Vale, then dumped a pair of white knitted gloves into the bushes on Brunswick Road and calmly walked home. The homicide squad interrupted her walk and arrested her on suspicion of involvement in the murder. Police phone taps also reveal her discussing disposing of the items used in the murder with Kane and Amour. When police raided Moran’s home they found three handguns, clothing matching the description of that worn by the gunmen, a wig and two sets of stolen number plates. Moran remained silent throughout the entire eight-hour hearing and thanked the bail justice when it ended.
In another bizarre twist of fate Judy Moran’s house was set on fire while she sat in custody that night, just hours after she was charged with being an accessory to murder. The chief prosecutor, Gavin Silbert QC, said a fire at Moran’s home showed the ‘major danger associated with this investigation’. Police said they were treating the blaze as ‘suspicious’. At the time of writing the arson squad were still investigating.
…a shotgun had also been found hidden under some cushions, loaded with six shells, ready for use.
Both Moran and Kane faced the Melbourne Magistrate’s Court on 18 June where it was revealed that a shotgun had also been found hidden under some cushions, loaded with six shotgun shells, ready for use.
Detective Senior Constable Steven Reidy stated in court that he feared Moran would flee overseas if she were released on bail. It was also stated that if Suzanne Kane were granted bail she would most likely flee to Western Australia. After much deliberation Magistrate Jelena Popovic said she was concerned about the safety of members of the community, therefore refusing both Moran and Kane bail. As they were being removed from the court a man shouted out: ‘Garbage Jude! Don’t worry about it!’
On Tuesday 16 June Geoff Amour (who was under investigation for a previous attempt to kill Moran) faced an out of sessions hearing before a Portland Bail Justice in the Portland Police Station, where he was charged with murdering Des Moran. He was then transported to Warrnambool and held overnight before facing the Melbourne Magistrate’s Court the following day. He did not apply for bail and is currently remanded in custody.
Victorian police commissioner Simon Overland said television scriptwriters would be hard-pressed to devise such a convoluted scenario. ‘Fact is almost stranger than fiction with what we’ve seen,’ Overland told ABC radio. ‘If you were a scriptwriter and sat down and wrote this stuff you’d probably say it’s a bit far fetched.’
In the Melbourne Magistrate’s Court on 21 July police escalated both Moran’s and Kane’s charge of accessory to murder after the fact to the charge of murder. After examining CCTV footage of the streets near the murder scene Purana detectives allege both women played a part in the murder. The new charges claim that Moran and Kane either conspired to kill Des Moran or had prior knowledge he was to be killed. Ms Moran’s lawyer, Brian Bourke QC, criticised police for their ‘indecent haste’ and said he was ‘concerned about the sinister aspect of serving the charge of murder’. On the 24 July The Herald Sun reported that two other suspects in the murder of Des Moran allegedly practised target shooting at a farm in the weeks before the murder. The Purana taskforce stated that the pair were ‘people of interest’. The police also revealed that they believe the prime motive for the murder was money and that Judy Moran was the brains behind the murder. Allegedly, Des Moran’s will bequeath much of his estate to Judy Moran’s grandchildren.
Des Moran
The police also revealed that they believe the prime motive for the murder was money.
Des Moran’s funeral took place on 26 June 2009. More than 300 people crammed into the Roselyn Court Homestead reception centre, among them gangland survivor Mick Gatto and prominent members of the racing community. Police established roadblocks around the reception centre and plain-clothes detectives monitored the service.