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Man caught 'throwing out murder evidence'By Adam
Gartrell
September 05, 2006 06:08pm
Article from: AAPFont size: + -
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A MAN accused of gunning down his former bikie mate outside a Perth aquatic
centre was seen by police trying to dispose of evidence including spent bullet
cartridges, a court has been told.
Johnny Montani, 41, of Morley, is standing trial in the West Australian Supreme
Court for murdering 36-year-old Kevin Ashley Woodhouse outside the Bayswater
Waves Aquatic Centre in Perth two years ago.
During his opening address to the jury, prosecutor James Mactaggart today said
the two men were friends but had had a falling out before Mr Woodhouse was
murdered.
On May 12, 2004, Mr Montani approached Mr Woodhouse at about 4.30am (WST) while
he was sitting on a bench waiting for the aquatic centre to open, Mr Mactaggart
alleged.
Mr Montani shot Mr Woodhouse in the chest and abdomen as he tried to escape, Mr
Mactaggart said.
Mr Woodhouse crashed through the glass doors of the aquatic centre before being
shot twice more and falling to the ground.
Mr Mactaggart said that as Mr Woodhouse lay dying he uttered: “Shot, shot ...
I'm dying ... I'm finished.”
A security guard asked him his name and Mr Woodhouse allegedly replied: “Johnny
Montoyo, Johnny Montoyo.”
“The last words he uttered were the names of his killer – or a variation of it,”
Mr Mactaggart told the court.
Witnesses described seeing a man in dark clothes and a motorcycle helmet
approaching Mr Woodhouse before the shooting and seeing the same man riding away
on a motorcycle afterwards, the court heard.
Mr Woodhouse had been shot with high-powered ammunition from a revolver which
left no spent bullet cartridges behind, Mr Mactaggart said.
Later that day police, who were watching Mr Montani, saw him take several
bulging garbage bags to a waste disposal business.
After he left, police retrieved the bags and found four spent shell casings, a
pair of black pants, a black jacket and a motorcycle helmet.
Mr Mactaggart said Mr Montani had been getting rid of the evidence because it
could implicate him in the murder.
Mr Montani's lawyer Lloyd Rayney said Mr Woodhouse was a former bikie who had a
number of enemies.
Someone else had attempted to kill Mr Woodhouse several years earlier and he was
“a dead man walking”, Mr Rayney said.
Mr Rayney said despite the two men's disagreement, Montani had still considered
Mr Woodhouse his friend.
Mr Rayney said the spent bullet cartridges could not be conclusively tied to the
shooting.
The trial, which is set down for 12 days, continues.
