Attack that fuelled a
gangland war
Michael Warner and Geoff Wilkinson
13may05
THE bikie boss linked
to West Coast footballers Ben Cousins and Michael Gardiner has been blamed
for igniting Melbourne's bloody gangland war.
Coffin Cheater Troy Mercanti inflicted a savage beating on a key Melbourne
crime figure that is believed to have set off more than a dozen tit-for-tat
killings.
The attack in Carlton in late 2002 prompted a change in the underworld
factional power balance that may have triggered almost half of Victoria's 27
gangland murders.
The victim of the
beating, who cannot be identified because he is facing criminal charges, was
taken for medical treatment by underworld hit man Andrew Veniamin after the
vicious assault.
A police source said
the attack happened during a gathering of rival underworld figures, which
had been intended to strike a peace deal but instead sparked an all-out war.
The source said that
the man assaulted by Mercanti had "changed sides" after the bashing.
Thirteen people with
criminal connections -- including Veniamin -- were murdered in a 12-month
period from the following April.
The first was Nik
Radev, who is believed to have assisted Mercanti in the Carlton bashing.
Cousins and Gardiner
have refused to make a statement to police investigating a nightclub attack
on Mercanti in Perth in January.
Their lawyer, Peter
Momber, refused to comment yesterday.
The two players
reportedly rang an associate of Mercanti in the club before and after he was
stabbed in the nightclub and another man was shot.
Both players have
since been recorded on telephone calls made by Mercanti in jail.
Gardiner was also
filmed allegedly making a "handcuffs" gesture to Mercanti as a show of
support during the Wizard Cup grand final at Telstra Dome in March.
Reports in Perth have
suggested January's nightclub violence was prompted by a dispute between
rival bikie gangs.
But Melbourne police
sources said the knife attack on Mercanti may have been a payback for the
2002 bashing.
"It's a long time to
wait to square off, but that's the way things are done in some circles," the
Herald Sun was told.
The victim of the
Carlton attack was savagely punched and kicked to the head, and needed more
than 60 stitches.
Mercanti needed 90
staples to close his wounds after being slashed across the neck, chest and
arms at the Metro City nightclub in Perth on January 23.
His lawyer later told
a bail hearing Mercanti had been "slashed to within an inch of his life",
and his chest looked like "something from a Freddie Kruger movie".
The court was told
Mercanti responded by firing five shots from a pistol into an arm and both
legs of a member of another West Australian bikie group, the Scorpion Boys.
Mercanti, a
35-year-old father of two, has been charged over the nightclub incident with
acts causing grievous bodily harm and attempting to pervert the course of
justice, and is remanded in custody. He has not been charged over the 2002
Carlton beating.
His lawyer, who asked
not to be named, confirmed yesterday that Mercanti knew Cousins and
Gardiner, but said they were not friends.
The lawyer said that
Mercanti was an infrequent visitor to Melbourne but "did go there once to
see a Robbie Williams concert".
The lawyer had heard
rumours about Mercanti's alleged involvement in an incident in Melbourne
involving a well-known underworld figure.
The man shot during
the Perth nightclub clash, Scorpion Boy Nabil Dabag, was charged with
assault causing grievous bodily harm and is also remanded in custody.
Colourful Perth
identity John Kizon was in the club at the time and has been accused of
helping dispose of the gun allegedly used by Mercanti.
Kizon was charged with
being an accessory after the fact and attempting to pervert the course of
justice, and was released on bail.
Another Coffin
Cheater, David Morris, faces a charge of being an accessory after the fact.
He is the man allegedly telephoned at the nightclub by at least one of the
Eagles players.
Kizon, a convicted
heroin trafficker, said in an interview with the Herald Sun this week that
he knew Cousins and Gardiner but they were not close friends.
Kizon was first linked
publicly to the pair after they were seen together at Crown casino after the
2001 Brownlow Medal count.
He grew up in Fitzroy
and has been linked to some of the key players in Melbourne's underworld.
Kizon was a pallbearer
at the funeral of one of the most prominent victims of the gangland war,
Alphonse Gangitano.
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