In the early part of this decade, the fair city of Melbourne, Australia was embroiled in a violent gangland war, pitting a speed trafficker named Carl Williams against the notorious Moran clan. The spat, which started when one of the Morans shot Williams in the belly, ended up claiming at least 34 lives; it also became a lurid topic of fascination among Australians, as well as fodder for a top-rated crime series.
The bad old days supposedly ended years ago, when Williams was sentenced to life. But someone’s apparently not content to let bygones be bygones; last night, this dead-ender tried to off the last male Moran. Des “Tuppence” Moran somehow survived unscathed, which makes him a great deal luckier than his brothers and cousins:
The Moran family was almost wiped out in the underworld war. Judy’s son Mark Moran was gunned down outside his Aberfeldie home in 2000. Her son Jason was shot dead in front of his children at an Auskick football clinic in Essendon in 2003. And her husband Lewis was shot dead by Evangelos Goussis at the Brunswick Club in 2004.
Salacious! And yet as is so often the case, the notoriety of the Melbourne gangland wars—pumped by the tabloid press—obscures the fact that the city’s extremely safe, with a current murder rate of 7.4 per 100,000 residents. In other words, it ain’t no Caracas—or even a Port Moresby, for that matter.
Like gas stations in rural Texas after 10 pm, comments are closed.