Melbourne gangland killings
Carl Williams was an Australian drug kingpin who got into some legal trouble and was sentenced to life in an Australian prison. During his time behind bars, he reportedly turned informant and started talking about former associates. In this picture, an associate of his former associates approaches Williams from behind with a piece of tubular steel torn out of an exercise bicycle. Williams' body wasn't discovered for another half an hour.
Carl Anthony Williams (13 October 1970 – 19 April 2010) was an Australian convicted murderer and drug trafficker from Melbourne, Victoria. He was a central figure in the Melbourne gangland killings as well as their final victim.
The Melbourne gangland killings were the murders of 36 underworld figures in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, between January 1998 and August 2010. The murders were retributive killings involving underworld groups. The deaths caused a power vacuum within Melbourne's criminal community, and rival factions fought for control and influence. Many of the murders remain unsolved, although detectives from the Purana Taskforce believe that Carl Williams was responsible for at least ten of them. The period culminated in the arrest of Williams, who pleaded guilty on 28 February 2007 to three of the murders.
Since the confession of Williams, the ultimate source of the violence has become public knowledge. On his 29th birthday, while meeting with Jason Moran and his half brother Mark Moran on 13 October 1999 at a suburban park in Gladstone Park, Jason Moran shot Carl Williams in the stomach over a dispute about money relating to their amphetamine trade. Through the period after his run-in with the Moran family, Williams commenced a war with the aim of killing all members of the ‘Carlton Crew’.
The murder of former lawyer Mario Condello on 6 February 2006 caused speculation of a possible resurgence in the killings, although this was denied by police.
On 19 April 2010, Carl Williams was murdered by fellow inmate Matthew Johnson while incarcerated at Barwon Prison. Williams would have been 71 before becoming eligible for parole.
On 19 April 2010, Williams died from a head injury while incarcerated at Barwon Prison. He was bludgeoned to death with an exercise bike handle by another inmate, Matthew Charles Johnson, who was convicted of the murder, and sentenced in December 2011 to 32 years in jail.
Williams's funeral was held on 30 April 2010 at St Therese's Catholic Church in Essendon. He was buried in a golden coffin. In January 2011 it was reported that Williams's resting place consisted of a nameless plot, without a headstone.
The circumstances of his death were investigated by the Victorian Ombudsman. A report critical of Corrections Victoria (for approving Williams to share a cell with Johnson) was released in April 2012. Two months later in June 2012, the Department of Justice Secretary Penny Armytage resigned and earlier in May the Corrections Victoria Commissioner Bob Hastings had resigned. In 2019, during the Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants, former Deputy Commissioner (Crime) for Victoria Police Sir Kenneth Lloyd Jones made a written submission stating his belief that prison staff were involved with the death of Williams
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