Alphonse Gangitano
Encyclopedia
Alphonse John Gangitano (24 March 1957 – 16 January 1998) was an Italian Australian criminal from Templestowe
Templestowe, Victoria
"Templestowe" redirects here. For the Victorian Legislative Council Province, please see Templestowe Province.Templestowe is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 17 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Manningham...

, a suburb of Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

. Nicknamed the "Black Prince of Lygon Street", Gangitano was the face of an organisation known as the Carlton Crew
The Carlton Crew
The Carlton Crew is an Italian-Australian criminal organisation based in Melbourne, Victoria. It is so called because the members commonly met in Lygon St, Carlton, commonly called "Little Italy"....

, and a close associate of convicted criminals Graham Kinniburgh
Graham Kinniburgh
Graham 'The Munster' Allen Kinniburgh was an Australian organised crime figure from Kew, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia...

, Mick Gatto and Jason Moran
Jason Moran
Jason Matthew Patrick Moran was an Australian criminal from Melbourne, Victoria, and one of the leaders of the Moran crime family, notable for its involvement in the Melbourne gangland killings. He sported a 12 cm scar on the side of his face.-Early life:Moran was the son of Lewis Moran and...

. He was also an associate of alleged organised crime bosses Tom Domican (Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

) and John Kizon (Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

).

Gangitano was one of the first of the 1998–2010 Melbourne gangland killings
Melbourne gangland killings
The Melbourne gangland killings were the murders in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia of 36 criminal figures or partners between 16 January 1998 and 13 August 2010. The murders were in a series of retributional murders involving various underworld groups. The deaths caused a sustained power vacuum...

 when he was murdered in 1998. Gangitano was portrayed by Vince Colosimo
Vince Colosimo
Vincenzo Colosimo is an Australian AFI Award winning stage, television and screen actor. He has worked in both Australia and the United States.-Personal life:...

 in the 2008 TV series Underbelly
Underbelly (TV series)
Underbelly is a 13-part Australian television mini-series that retells the real events of the 1995–2004 gangland war in Melbourne, and is the first series in the larger Underbelly Franchise. It depicts the key players in Melbourne's criminal underworld, including the Carlton Crew and their rival,...

 and by Elan Zavelsky in the 2009 TV series Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities
Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities
Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities is a 13-part Australian television mini-series loosely based on real events that stemmed from the marijuana trade centred around the New South Wales town of Griffith. The timeline of the series is the years between 1976 and 1987. Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities...

.

Early life

Gangitano attended De La Salle College and Marcellin College
Marcellin College
Marcellin College is a Marist Catholic secondary boys' school situated in Bulleen, Victoria, Australia.The school was founded in 1950 by the Marist Brothers originally in Camberwell...

. In later years through the 1980s and 1990s Alphonse had been alleged a co-owner of a King Street nightclub and numerous fight promotions and other ventures that went onto include Horse racing and protection rackets
.

King Street nightclub attack

Gangitano, Moran and associate Troy Rapasarda were charged over serious assaults on several patrons at the Sports Bar nightclub in King Street, Melbourne
King Street, Melbourne
King Street is a main street in the Melbourne central business district. King Street is part of the Pacific Highway, and used to be part of National Route 1 until the city by-pass road linking the Monash Freeway with the Westgate Freeway was completed...

 on 19 December 1995.

Moran later said of Gangitano: "He's a fucking lulu ... if you smash five pool cues and an iron bar over someone's head....you're a fucking lulu". The attack was portrayed on Underbelly.

Murder

On the day of his death 16 January 1998, Gangitano was reported to have had a telephone conversation with Kizon. That same day, Kinniburgh drank at the Laurel Hotel in Ascot Vale
Ascot Vale, Victoria
Ascot Vale is a suburb 7 km north-west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moonee Valley. At the 2006 Census, Ascot Vale had a population of 12,398....

 with associate Lou Cozzo before driving to Gangitano's home in Templestowe. At a subsequent coroners' inquest, evidence was presented that Kinniburgh and Jason Moran were in Gangitano's home that night. Both were exempted from giving evidence at the inquest, on the grounds that their evidence might incriminate them.

Kinniburgh left Gangitano's house shortly after 11 pm to purchase cigarettes. Upon his return 30 minutes later, he found that Gangitano had been shot several times in the head in the laundry. Gangitano's de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...

wife, Virginia, was with the body. Traces of Kinniburgh's blood were later discovered on the back flyscreen door at Gangitano's home.

Kinniburgh reportedly respected the code of silence
Code of silence
A code of silence is a condition in effect when a person opts to withhold what is believed to be vital or important information voluntarily or involuntarily....

, frustrating police investigating the murder. Gangitano's pallbearers included Gatto and Kizon. Gangitano is survived by his wife and two daughters, and was widely believed to have had another child with which he had no contact to an unidentified woman.

Kinniburgh and Moran were both later murdered themselves. Jason allegedly pulled out a gun after an argument with Alphonse and shot him in the head. The murder may have led to as many as 75 revenge assaults on underworld members. Gangitano was charged with shooting petty criminal Gregory John Workman dead in 1995, at 1 Wando Grove, St Kilda East however Gangitano never went to trial over the shooting after two witnesses retracted their statements.
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