Lewis Moran

Lewis Moran (7 July 1941 – 31 March 2004) was an Australian organized crime figure and patriarch of the infamous Moran family of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Notable for his involvement in the Melbourne gangland killings, Moran was shot dead in a Melbourne hotel The Brunswick Club in 2004. His murder occurred one day after the funeral of fellow Melbourne underworld criminal and suspected hitman Andrew Veniamin.

Moran, married to Judy Moran, was the father of murdered Melbourne underworld figure Jason Moran, murdered in 2003, and stepfather of Mark Moran, murdered in 2000 .^{[citation needed]} Moran was a long term associate of Graham Kinniburgh after meeting as workers on Melbourne's waterside. Kinniburgh was earlier executed outside his Kew home on 13 December 2003.

Murder

Masked gunmen entered the Brunswick Club on Sydney Road, Brunswick, at approximately 6.40pm on 31 March 2004, driving a Ford Falcon EF XR6 station wagon. Moran ran from his place at the bar, over a poker machine, through a glass window before the gunman caught up with him and shot him twice, the fatal bullet being fired into the back of his head from a few centimetres away. Associate Herbert "Bertie" Wrout was severely wounded but survived the attack.

Keith Faure, his brother Noel Faure and associate Evangelos Goussis were charged with the murder. On 3 May 2006, Faure pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 19 years for the murders of Moran and Lewis Caine, who was killed two months after Moran.^{[citation needed]} Former Kickboxing champ Goussis, 40, of Geelong was found guilty of Moran's murder on 29 May 2008 in the Victorian Supreme Court. Goussis had stormed into the Brunswick Club and shot Moran as he cowered in a corner. Goussis and two others reportedly accepted a $150,000 contract from Tony Mokbel to kill Moran, the Victorian Supreme Court heard.^{[citation needed]} After five days deliberation, the jury also found Goussis guilty of intentionally causing serious injury to Wrout, but not guilty of his attempted murder.^{[citation needed]} Goussis was also convicted of murdering Caine. In February 2009, Goussis was sentenced to a minimum 30 years in prison for Moran's murder. Lewis Moran was suspected in ordering the death of underworld Hitman Dino Dibra.^[1]

On 7 May 2007, Carl Williams was convicted of commissioning Lewis Moran's murder, and sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment. Williams died in Barwon prison, on 19 April 2010, as the result of an attack by a fellow inmate.^[2]

References in art and popular culture

In the local Australian TV drama series Underbelly Lewis Moran is played by actor Kevin Harrington. Moran is also portrayed in the Australian TV drama series Killing Time by actor Colin Friels.

'Lewis in the U' for solo bass, choir and instrumental ensemble depicts the death of Lewis Moran. It is the 5th of Martin Friedel's Underworld Songs and was first performed at the Abbotsford Convent in Melbourne by Astra conducted by John McCaughey on 21 and 22 September 2013.

See also

• Crime in Melbourne

References

External links

• The Bulletin - Mobsters Inc: How Melbourne became No.1 with a bullet
• Lewis Moran killed in gangland shooting
• Lewis Moran murdered, The Age
• Three facing charges over Moran killing, The Age
• Moran knew he was a target, NineMsn. Retrieved on 10 April 2008