PAYBACK FEARS AS UNDERWORLD WAR CLAIMS ANOTHER VICTIM

Less than 12 hours after Mark Moran was murdered outside his luxury
home, a group of his associates met in another house in the
north-eastern suburbs to begin planning the payback killing.

Yesterday, both homicide squad detectives and the group of criminals
were making separate inquiries as to who ambushed and killed Mr Moran
on Thursday evening. If police find him he will face murder charges,
but if the gang finds him first he is likely to be the next statistic
in a sporadic underworld war conducted in Melbourne over the past 30
months.

Mr Moran, 36, was always the apparent white sheep of the family, the
one who stayed in the background and kept a low profile. But now the
man who shunned publicity has made the headlines, the latest victim in
the underworld war that has claimed up to nine lives since January,
1998.

Police won't say so publicly, but they are now expecting more gangland
killings and they know of the group of criminals who are already
planning a revenge attack.

The gang has openly declared they will not cooperate with the police
investigation.

The Moran name has been well known through three generations in
Melbourne criminal circles. Their reputation was not earned by a
pacifist philosophy and both police and criminal sources said
yesterday they expected further violence.

Homicide squad Detective Inspector Brian Rix said police were
receiving little help from the Morans. He said the shooting had "all
the hallmarks of an underworld slaying".

"The indications are that he was out of his car at the time of the
shooting, which means that perhaps his killers laid in wait," Mr Rix
said.

"Mark fancied himself as a bit of a heavy. I would think the
underworld will talk about this to somebody, and I'm sure that will
get back to us in some way."

But he said police were concerned at the potential for payback
shootings."It's a real concern that they'll go out and try and seek
retribution, but we've got to try to get to the family and say that is
not the way to go about things ... they've got to trust the system,"
he said.

Mr Moran left his million-dollar home in Combermere Street,
Aberfeldie, near Essendon, for just 20 minutes on Thursday night. When
he returned a gunman shot him as he got out of his late-model vehicle.
The shotgun blast knocked him back into the car, killing him instantly.

He was the younger brother of well-known criminal Jason Moran, who is
serving two years and six months over an assault in King Street, Melbourne.

Jason Moran was a close associate of notorious gangster Alphonse John
Gangitano, who was shot dead in his Templestowe home in January, 1998.
Mr Gangitano was also charged over the King Street brawl, but was
murdered before the trial.

It is believed that Mr Gangitano and Moran fell out "very shortly"
before Mr Gangitano was murdered.

Police said that while Jason Moran was seen as wild, violent and
erratic, his younger brother was calmer and tried to keep a lower
profile. "Jason was out of control, Mark was the brains," said one
policeman who has investigated the family.

But as Jason became increasingly restrained by court action and stints
in jail, his brother began to take a higher profile.

About 18 months ago, he took offence when an associate made a
disparaging comment about a female relative.

"He went around to the guy's house, stuck a gun in his mouth, took him
away and seriously flogged him," a criminal source said.

Last year, he was involved in the assault of a policeman at the
Flemington Racecourse on Oaks Day.

On February 17, police noticed Moran driving a luxury car. When they
opened the boot of the rented car, they found a high-tech handgun
equipped with a silencer and a laser sight.

They also found a large number of amphetamine pills that had been
stamped through a pill press to appear as ecstasy tablets.

In a raid yesterday on an associate of Mr Moran, police seized another
5000 tablets similar to those found in the boot of the rental car.

Earlier this year, Mark Moran was ejected from the County Court after
he tried to use a false name to get access to the plea hearing after
his brother was found guilty over the King Street assault. AFL
footballer Wayne Carey gave character evidence for Jason Moran.

Last Wednesday, police conducted a series of raids on a sophisticated
amphetamines network and a number of criminals, including one known as
"The Penguin" were arrested.

One theory police are looking at is that someone connected with the
network wrongly blamed Mark Moran for having informed on them to try
to remove a competing drug syndicate.

A second underworld rumor was that he was considered an easier target
to kill, because Jason was in jail and unable to fight back.

A third source suggested that a gangster had a grudge against Mark and
that he was warned to back off. When he didn't, the gangster ordered
the murder.

Police sources said they were now concerned for the welfare of a
lawyer who regularly socialises with several members of the Moran family.

"It is not the right time to be taking sides," a detective said last
night.

Former standover man Mark Brandon (Chopper) Read predicted this month
there would be further murders.

"It is heating up quite nicely at the moment and it is a long way from
finished. It is a good time to be retired," he said.

Police said that in nearly all the underworld murders since 1998 the
killers had either stalked their victims or had inside knowledge of
their movements.

The victims include "Mad" Charlie Hegyalji, who was shot dead in the
front garden of his South Caulfield home on November 23, 1998. Police
said the gunman must have known that Mr Hegyalji's security video was
not recording and hid under the thick hedge before shooting Mr
Hegyalji when he walked through the front gate.

Another victim was Vince Mannella, who was shot as he returned to his
North Fitzroy home on January 9, 1999. Mr Mannella was present with
many of Mr Moran's associates and some of Australia's biggest
amphetamines manufacturers at the opening of Mr Gangitano's illegal
casino in North Fitzroy when it was raided by police in August, 1987.

Mr Mannella's brother, Geraldo, was shot dead as he left a relative's
home in North Fitzroy on October 20, 1999. Police believe he was
killed in a pre-emptive strike so that he could not avenge his
brother's murder.

Police do not know if all nine underworld murders are related, but
they have established that nearly all the victims knew each other.

They don't know why they were killed and how many hitmen have been
involved.

But many were predicting last night the war was far from over.