"A photofit of the man police wish to speak in relation to Mario Condello's murder; the type of car seen in the 'immediate vicinity' of Condello's home at the time of the murder."
"A further three people have been charged over the murder of gangland victim Mark Mallia."
"An accused gangland murderer blew a kiss, thumped his heart and gave a thumbs-up sign to friends as he was remanded in custody today."
The condemned man ate a hearty breakfast, thumped his chest and cried like a baby once back in his cell...
Christopher Orfanidis, of Ardeer in Melbourne's west, is due to appear before Melbourne Magistrates Court at 10am charged with murder after he was formally arrested at Sunshine police station yesterday.
Do note that he was arrested at the station- in other words he "presented" himself at the station to be arrested.
The Age- Another ArrestPolice in Sydney this morning arrested Damien Cossu, 30, in connection with the murder of Mark Mallia, 30, a small-time criminal and close associate of standover man Nik Radev, on August 18, 2003.
Victoria Police had previously named Mr Cossu as a person of interest in their investigation into Radev's death.
Underworld identity Mick Gatto, at his trial over the killing of gangster Andrew "Benji" Veniamin, said he believed Veniamin was responsible for the murders of both Mallia and Radev.
Heavily armed police from NSW's homicide squad, working with Victoria Police's Purana taskforce, stopped a car and arrested Mr Cossu in the south-west Sydney suburb of Liverpool area about 7.30am today.
Interesting all round. Police had merely named him as a "person of interest". While many folk would jump to the conclusion that a "person of interest" translates roughly as "perpetrator", the truth is the cops often just think a person of interest knows someone who knows something. Several degrees of seperation. Take Graeme Kinniburgh- while he didn't pop Alphonse's clogs, he sure as hell saw Mark Moran do it. Therefore the cops would rate Graeme as a "person of interest" and not a perp.
Though it would appear that Cossu is definately more interesting than most...
The Age- Cossu's arrest in Sydney
ABC news website- Gangland Killing arrest
**UPDATE** He'll shortly be extradited to Melbourne:
The Age Gangland suspect extradited
Superintendent Grant said he expected police would make more arrests in relation to the Mallia murder in coming weeks. "We will be visiting several people over the next couple of weeks," he said..
Commander of the NSW Police homicide squad, Linda Howlett, said police said NSW Police had been working with Victoria Police since January on the case and today's arrest followed "a fair amount of assistance from the public''
FOUR months after he skipped the state, the way has been cleared for the properties of fugitive drug lord Tony Mokbel to be sold by National Australia Bank.
Purana underworld detectives today raided house in Lalor believed to be connected with the murder of underworld criminal Mark Mallia in 2003.
Mallia's badly burnt body was discovered dumped in a drain at the rear of a West Sunshine soccer club on August 18, 2003. Police initially had trouble identifying Mallia, a known associate of slain gangland figure Nick Radev, but yesterday confirmed that they recently received information leading them to believe Mallia may have been murdered at the Lalor house.
"We do the best we can to have a corruption-resilient organisation and one that has a set of values and standards that all members adhere to,'' she said.
"We know that there will be some members (involved in corruption or unethical behaviour) on some occasions, but it is too early for us to suggest that any members have behaved inappropriately until the investigation is completed, until charges perhaps are laid, if that might be the step, but we are still very early in this process.''
