Lewis Moran (7 July 1941 – 31 March 2004) was an Australian organized crime figure and
patriarch
The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...
of the infamous
Moran family
The Moran family is an infamous Melbourne, Australia-based criminal family of Irish ancestry,[Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...]
,
Victoria, Australia
Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in Au ...
. Notable for his involvement in the
Melbourne gangland killings
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 vacu ...
, Moran was shot dead in The Brunswick Club Hotel in Melbourne on 31 March 2004. His murder occurred one week after the funeral of fellow Melbourne underworld criminal and suspected hitman
Andrew Veniamin
Andrew "Benji" Veniamin (16 November 1975 – 23 March 2004) was an Australian criminal from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. A convicted car thief, Veniamin was a key figure in the Melbourne underworld killings, suspected of both murdering sev ...
.
Moran, married to
Judy Moran
Judith Maryanne Moran (née Brooks; born 18 December 1944) is the matriarch of the Moran criminal family of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, involved in the Melbourne gangland killings.
Personal life
Moran was born in Victoria on 18 December 194 ...
, was the father of murdered Melbourne underworld figure
Jason Moran Jason Moran may refer to:
* Jason Moran (criminal) (1967–2003), Australian mobster
* Jason Moran (musician)
Jason Moran (born January 21, 1975) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and educator involved in multimedia art and theatrical inst ...
, murdered in 2003, and stepfather of
Mark Moran, murdered in 2000. Moran was a long-term associate of
Graham Kinniburgh
Graham Allen Kinniburgh (20 October 1942 – 13 December 2003) was an Australian organised crime figure from Kew, a suburb of Melbourne. He became a victim of the Melbourne gangland killings, which were dramatised in the drama series ''Underbel ...
after meeting as workers on
Melbourne's waterside. Kinniburgh was earlier executed outside his
Kew
Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...
home on 13 December 2003. He was also the brother of underworld figure
Desmond "Tuppence" Moran, who was shot dead on 15 June 2009, just outside a cafe on Union Road in Ascot Vale.
Murder
On 31 March 2004, Lewis Moran and Herbert "Bertie" Wrout were at The Brunswick Club Hotel, on
Sydney Road,
Brunswick, which was their regular drinking place. Both men were on bail and did not carry firearms, which would have been a breach of their bail conditions.
[Underworld figure Bert Wrout recalls the night two gunmen stormed the Brunswick Club to kill Lewis Moran and how he survived]
/ref> Moran was on bail facing serious drug trafficking charges. Two gunmen wearing balaclavas entered the Brunswick Club, at approximately 6:40 p.m. on that day, driving a Ford Falcon EF
The Ford Falcon (EF) was a full-size car that was produced by Ford Australia from 1994 to 1996. It was the fourth significantly updated iteration of the fifth generation of the Falcon and also included the Ford Fairmont (EF)—the luxury-oriented ...
XR6 station wagon. Moran ran from his place at the bar, over a poker machine, through a glass window before the gunman caught up with him and shot him twice, the fatal bullet being fired into the back of his head from a few centimetres away. Wrout was severely wounded but survived the attack.
Keith Faure
Keith George Faure (born June, 1951), from Norlane, Victoria, is an Australian career criminal, convicted of multiple murders and manslaughters. He is currently serving life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 19 years for his role ...
, his brother Noel Faure and associate Evangelos Goussis
Evangelos "Ange" Goussis (born 14 September 1967) is an Australian former boxer and kickboxer from Geelong, Victoria, and is a multiple murderer, guilty of the murders of two victims of the Melbourne gangland killings.
Early life
Goussis was ...
were charged on 13 May 2005 with the murder and shooting. Initially they all pleaded not guilty. On 3 May 2006, Keith Faure pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 19 years for the murders of Moran and Lewis Caine
Lewis Caine (22 April 1965 – 8 May 2004, also known by the aliases Sean Vincent and Adrian Bligh) was an Australian organised crime figure who was murdered on 8 May 2004 during the Melbourne gangland killings.
He was a self-proclaimed ma ...
, who was killed two months after Moran. Noel Faure, who was described as a "gun for hire", was convicted of the murder of Moran and of shooting Herbert Wrout and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 23 years.[Noel Faure, hitman paid $150,000 to gun down Lewis Moran, dies in prison at 62]
/ref> Former Kickboxing champ Goussis, 40, of Geelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...
was found guilty of Moran's murder on 29 May 2008 in the Victorian Supreme Court. Goussis had stormed into the Brunswick Club and shot Moran as he cowered in a corner. Goussis and two others reportedly accepted a $150,000 contract from Tony Mokbel
Antonios Sajih Mokbel (Arabic: طوني مقبل) (born 11 August 1965) is an Australian criminal who has been convicted of a number of offences, most prominently commercial drug trafficking. He has spent most of his life in Melbourne, Australi ...
to kill Moran, the Victorian Supreme Court heard. After five days deliberation, the jury also found Goussis guilty of intentionally causing serious injury to Wrout, but not guilty of his attempted murder. Goussis was also convicted of murdering Caine. In February 2009, Goussis was sentenced to a minimum 30 years in prison for Moran's murder. Lewis Moran was suspected in ordering the death of underworld Hitman Dino Dibra.
On 7 May 2007, Carl Williams was convicted of commissioning the murders of four gangland rivals including Jason Moran Jason Moran may refer to:
* Jason Moran (criminal) (1967–2003), Australian mobster
* Jason Moran (musician)
Jason Moran (born January 21, 1975) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and educator involved in multimedia art and theatrical inst ...
, Lewis Moran, Mark Mallia
Mark Mallia is a self-taught Outsider Art, outsider artist who works with abstract and portrait paintings on a variety of mixed media and ceramic sculptures. Mallia is Maltese, born in Pietà, Malta, Pieta, Malta in 1965, and has worked in Malt ...
and Michael Marshall and for conspiracy to murder a fourth, and sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 35 years. Williams died in Barwon prison, on 19 April 2010, as the result of an attack by a fellow inmate.
Noel Faure, who was convicted of the murder of Moran for a fee of A$150,000 and of shooting Herbert Wrout, and was serving a life sentence, died in prison on 8 March 2017, aged 62 after suffering a long illness.[
]
References in art and popular culture
In the local Australian TV drama series ''Underbelly
Underbelly is the side of something that is not normally seen. Figuratively, it means a vulnerable or weak part, similar to the term Achilles' heel, or alternatively, a hidden, illicit side of society.
This term could refer to:
Business
* ...
'' Lewis Moran was played by actor Kevin Harrington. Moran is also portrayed in the Australian TV drama series '' Killing Time'' by actor Colin Friels
Colin Friels (born 25 September 1952) is a Scottish-born Australian actor of theatre, TV and film and presenter
Early life
Friels was born in Kilwinning, Ayrshire, Scotland.Interview with Colin Friels, ''George Negus Tonight'' (ABC Television ...
.
'Lewis in the U' for solo bass, choir and instrumental ensemble depicts the death of Lewis Moran. It is the 5th of Martin Friedel Martin may refer to:
Places
* Martin City (disambiguation)
* Martin County (disambiguation)
* Martin Township (disambiguation)
Antarctica
* Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land
* Port Martin, Adelie Land
* Point Martin, South Orkney Islands
Austra ...
's ''Underworld Songs'' and was first performed at the Abbotsford Convent
The Abbotsford Convent is located in Abbotsford, Victoria, an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Australia. The Convent is in a bend of the Yarra River west of Yarra Bend Park, with the Collingwood Children's Farm to its north and east, the river a ...
in Melbourne by Astra conducted by John McCaughey on 21 and 22 September 2013.
See also
*Crime in Melbourne
Criminal activity in Victoria, Australia is combated by the Victoria Police and the Victorian court system, while statistics about crime are managed by the Crime Statistics Agency. Modern Australian states and cities, including Victoria, have so ...
References
External links
''The Bulletin'' - Mobsters Inc: How Melbourne became No.1 with a bullet
''The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
''
Three facing charges over Moran killing
''The Age''
Moran knew he was a target
''NineMsn''. Retrieved 10 April 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moran, Lewis
1941 births
2004 deaths
Australian drug traffickers
Australian murder victims
Australian people of Irish descent
Australian organised crime figures
Criminals from Melbourne
Deaths by firearm in Victoria (Australia)
Lewis
Lewis may refer to:
Names
* Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name
* Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname
Music
* Lewis (musician), Canadian singer
* "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...
People murdered in Victoria (Australia)
Victims of the Melbourne gangland killings
Australian waterside workers