Alphonse Gangitano
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| Alphonse John Gangitano | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | 24 March 1957 |
| Died | 16 January 1998 (aged 40) Templestowe, Victoria |
| Alias(es) | Black Prince |
Alphonse John Gangitano, March 24, 1957–January 16, 1998, was an Italian Australian organised crime identity from Templestowe, a suburb of Melbourne. He was the boss of famous Melbourne-based Sicilian Mafia organization known as the Carlton Crew. He attended De La Salle College and Marcellin, Gangitano was murdered, becoming one of the first of the 1998–2006 Melbourne gangland killings. He was nicknamed the "Black Prince of Lygon Street" and was a close associate of convicted criminals Graham Kinniburgh, Mick Gatto and Jason Moran.[1] He was also an associate of Sydney identity Tom Domican, and alleged Perth organised crime boss John Kizon.[2]
Gangitano was portrayed by Vince Colosimo in the 2008 TV series Underbelly.
[edit] King Street nightclub attack
Gangitano, Moran and associate Mark McNamara were charged over serious assaults on several patrons at the Sports Bar nightclub in King Street, Melbourne on December 19, 1995.
Moran later said of Gangitano: "He's a fucking lulu....if you smash five pool cues and an iron bar over someone's head....you're a fucking lulu".
[edit] Murder
On the day of his death, January 16, 1998, Gangitano is reported to have had a telephone conversation with Kizon.[3]
That same day, Kinniburgh drank at the Laurel Hotel in Ascot Vale with associate Lou Cozzo before driving to Gangitano's home. At a subsequent coroners' inquest, evidence was presented that Kinniburgh and Jason Moran were in Gangitano's home that night. Both were exempted from giving evidence at the inquest, on the grounds that their evidence might incriminate them.
Kinniburgh left Gangitano's house shortly after 11pm, to purchase cigarettes. Upon his return 30 minutes later, he found that Gangitano had been shot several times in the head, in the laundry. Gangitano's de facto wife Virginia was with the body. Traces of Kinniburgh's blood were later discovered on the back flyscreen door at Gangitano's home. Kinniburgh respected the code of silence, frustrating police investigating the murder.
Gangitano's pallbearers included Gatto and Kizon.
Gangitano was survived by his wife and two daughters, and was widely believed to have had another child with which he had no contact to an unidentified woman.
Kinniburgh and Moran were both later murdered.
[edit] References
- Footnotes
- ^ Melbourne Crime, 2008, "Alphonse John Gangitano". Access date: March 13, 2008
- ^ John Silvester & Selma Milovanovic, "Rogues' gallery emerges from ex-cop's testimony" (The Age, June 5, 2004). Access date: March 13, 2008.
- ^ Silvester & Milovanovic, 2004
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