RUSSELL suxre STATES: My full name is Russell Warren SMITH and I currently reside at (MEM in Preston. tr am 32 years of age and my date of birth is 10th of September 1965. I first met a guy by the name of Jason MORAN back in ope. At that time I was in Geelong gail. 1 was doing @ sentence for a Manslaughter. 7 had been convicted in 1984 and T was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment with a minimum of 10 years. At Geelong jail all the inmates were in together and ee well with him, we had mntual friends and when Jason came into the jail he joined up with the crew I was running with. As I said Jason and I got on really well] with him and 1 found him to be a good bloke but he was wild. Ne was always pig noting himself and 7 remember jpis big line he used to use was "po you know who the fuck I am!" 1 don’t know why he said this as Jason ws only a young ia and nobody in jail had heard of him. Jason could look after himself. Jail is a very violent place and Jason had to fight to protect himself. Jason would start fights in jail, he would threaten people if they upset him. There is no real incident that sticks in my mind but Jason would always be threatening people, it was his nature. 1 was with Jason MORAN in Geelong Jail for about six months. We were both moved from there in the same week. What used to happen back then was that when prisoners were moved they first got sent to Pentridge 'D’ Division and then to wherever itRUSSELL WARREN SMITE was they were being sent to. During our time in “p’ Division Jacon and I spent about a week in the same cell. After ‘DY Division I got sent to Dhurringile Prison Ferm and T think Jascn got sent té"Behdige, but T amt not sure about thet. By the time we got to ‘D’ Division Jason ané I were pretty good mates. 1 was released from prison in April of 1989, after serving about six years of my sentence. I didn't hear or see anything more from Jason MORAN, we lost touch. tn about 1994 T was in Odyssey House. I was there for drug and alcohol addiction. I was sentenced by the County Court to @ three year term of imprisonment that was suspended for two years on the condition that I attended and received treatment for Marijuana and alconol addiction. 7 had been charged and convicted for an Armed Robbery on @ Newsagency in Kingsbury. 1 committed the Armed Robbery because 7 needed the money for gambling debts and also to finance my Marijuana addiction. while Twas on remand for theses charges T met up with Breach remand for drug charges at the time. #@fByes also sent to odyssey House for treatment as part of his sentence. = 7 renenber fi was at Odyssey House & Short time before I got there, about two months before. when I got to Odyssey Housc@@—Binmediately dragged me aside and we started to run and hang out together. Compared to jail Odyssey House was a breeze. as part of the program I was doing T was rated at gifferent levels. After about ten weeks I was put onto level three. This meant I could leave Odyssey House at certain times put I had to be accompanied by one peer That meant I had to nave another person from the program with me when I went outside. +t was allowed to nominate somebody to accompany me and I always picked SNM to go out with me. 2RUSSELL WARREN. SUITE ‘ne first time I wes allowed out with ™MNF we went to his mothers house inagaes North Melbourne. It would have been in about August of 1994. While we were theresa made a telephone call to a friend of his and invited him around. This friend was Jason MORAN. I wasn’t surprised that lm knew Jason as M™Mand Jason wes part of the Lygon Street crew. I was pappy to meet Jason again as I had not seep him since Geelong Jail back in 1988. The first time T met YP with him again we talked about old times. SMM pnd 1 would meet up with Jason on @ regular basis after this. Just about every weekend when he wert allowed out of Odyssey House. We would first go tolls mothers house and thea we would meet with Jason, Sometimes We would go to his place in Ascot Vale and sometimes to his girlfriends place out in Meadow-beights. Sometimes Jason would meet us at MMe mothers place. Normally we would go the TAB or a hotel. We weren't actually allowed to drink alcohol as part of the program qut we always found it easy to get through the tests they would give us. gason would normally give us some money to bet with. sometimes he would offer me some smoke, that 1 would refuse as that would have shown up in the urine tests they had me do at Odyssey House. marijuana, but Jason was helpful to me at that time. 1 only got $20,00 a week at Odyssey and if I was short Jason would sling me some cash. ‘Tt wasn’t unusual for Jason to give us some money as it was accepted as being the done thing. If the situation was reversed I would have given Jason some money. on one time, I think it would have been early jn 1995, I was out on week-end leave ithe we vad met up with Jason MORAN and we had heen out drinking at the Depot Hotel in Richmond. It was 2 saturday and it was about 11.00pm. We had 3 TOTAL Pa manight curfew at that stage and Jason was axiving US pack to we were driving YP punt Road $7 gason’s Car: paother ariver cut 32 gront of 74608 and aian’t use & jpiinker. J850R got very angry and ‘nen we seopped OFF red Light at ERE gatersection gason smasbed © window of the other car and chen axagged the other broke oUF ana pit him jason peat “nis man quite severely: just sat in the car and aia nothing- re wasn't & great surprise to as Jason had @ very violent nature. ager assaulting chis man Jason got pack in the car and was jaughing- we arove off: 7 apn’ ynow 48 the Police ever 4 finished the oayssey program gn guly of 1995- After this Z went te work £0: Ee" the Fuxniture SBOP chat nis 1 would see gason MORAN oF a on the average of once a ™ a nim were z suppose YOU could say Jason good mates and Jason were part of treet crew: I was jntroduced 6° this crowd and that is where 1 met Alphonse GANGITANO- iphonse would pave peen the yeader of this crowd, gome people caliea nim the rpygon street Godfather’ - all that crows seemed O° want to pe KHOwD as gangsters: mney 3th quitivated tough cepurecions: 7 gon’ t Know why Eney aia this, ie was just 3 theix nature- pout balé & G076P times T went ©° niphonse’s Hovs with ae Aiphonse Was qiving at chat time 47 gaglemont 2 nh parents place- I also met nis — id ghey nad beer naving @ relationship off and! vsuecer wucei- SRP was going &RUSSELL WARREN SMITH for about ten years. ‘Alphonse always treated me fine. The only time I had anything to 6° with Alphonse was when I was with @ili@™ i never went to nis place oF socialised with him on my own. I never met Alphonse’s family. He always seemed to keep his family separate from the Lygon street crowd. tn late 1996 I stopped working at WEEE shop nad found out I bad started to Use heroin. 1 wasn’t a addict I was using it about once a week at that time. when Sg found out he dropped me Like @ Bot potato. He didn’t give me any more work and T lost touch with that whole crew including gason MORAN. while I had been running with this crowd I was living with my mother and father et the family home in Kingsbury- qm February of 1997 I moved out of home and started to live in the Preston area. 7 aidn't see Jason MORAN or any of that crowd anymore. 7 was unemployed and was supporting myseli by a disability pension. 1 wes not using eny drugs except Marijuana. T never geveloped @ Habit with the heroin and I was pever a regular user. jn ganuazy of 1998 it was the 15th or 16th, I cannot recall what day of the week, T went to the Sylvania Hotel in Camp Road Campbelliield. I can't remenber what day of the week but y ynow it was mid-January that is why I say it was the 15th of 16th. I went up to the notel to look at the strip show they have there of a lunch time. 7 would have arrived between 12.30 to 1.00 p.m. I drove my own cx which wes a orange Datsun sedan, a 120¥ When I arrived I went to the public Bar to start off with. Thad a couple of drinks ‘and then I went into the lounge 5RUSSELL WARREN SUSS= ee the sylvenia Hotel, I had been going there for years. When I first got there I met up with Jason MORAN. This wasn'© @ pre-arranged meeting it was just coincidence. Jason wasn’t a regular at the hotel, although I did meet up with him there once pefore years ago. Before T went to Odyssey House 1 started drinking and chatting away to him. we @ian't talk about anything in particular just caught up with each other and talked about what we fad been doing. We smoked some marijuana together at the hotel we left together about 2.30-3.00 p.m. 7 Grove nim back to my place in my cax. Once back at BY ouse we smoked some more marijuana and then we went to the Junction Hotel in Preston. we stayed there Grinking for about an hour’ and then Jason called a texi to go home. 1 can’t remember 4£ Jason used a mobile phone or rang on the pub phone Put 7 remember that he asked me for the phone number of North Subyrban maxi’s which wes 131119. before he left Jason made arrangements to come back and pay me ome ae had agreed to pay me $500 for the Marijuana. - Jason returned to my flat at about 9.45 p.m. He was by himself and when he first arrived he came inside and we had another smoke and a drink. He payed me the money he said he was ing to give me and then he suggested we g° for a drive. 1 asked where we were going to go and he said he hed to see a bloke. I didn’t ask who and Jason didn’t tell me. t didn’t think that wes unusual. gason had parked his car on the street in Hotham Street just outside my flat. While we were walking out to the car he threw the car keys and asked me to drive.RUSSELL WARREN SMITE qhe car he bad was a dark green Commodore sedan. It wes a recent model and renetber it was an automatic transmission and it had ‘po smoking’ stickers on the glove pox. 1 didn’t ask him about the car T assumed by the look of it, at was a nixe car. when Jeson came around that night he was wearing 2 paot of dark coloured slacks, & Light coloured shixt and small] light cardigan. Jason was directing where we were going and he told me to turn right into Bell street from Hotham and continue on down Bell. @idn’t know where we were going and i didn’t ask. jason directed me to drive and we drove down Bell Street into Manningham Road in Heidelberd- tt would been just after 10.00p.m. when we left my place. Manningham into enplestowe Road. at first F thought we were going to go and see another friend of Jason's called jad been out with Jason this has Happened. I bave done the sane thing myself when I had to go somewhere. When Jason got out of the car he walked back behind where I was parked. I looked at nim in the mirror for 2 couple of seconds but I lost interest. He didn't go into any of the houses in the immediate area, he walked further up the street. r aidn‘t see what house he went to and I don’t know if he evenRUSSELL WARREM SMITH went to a house in that same street 1 just stayed in the car waiting for Rim to come back. twas listening to the radio while he was gone 1 think it was a FM music station but 7 can’t remember what was on- after about fifteen minutes another car drove past me. ne car was coming behind me ‘and I looked in the rear vision mirror at the car. he other car headlights had 1it p the area a little bit and I could see gason walking back about two nouses away, 1 didn’t see what rouse he came out from, he was just walking along the street. He jumped back into the passenger seat. Jason didn’t seen any different to when he left. He was still calm and when he got back to the car he told me to do a u turn and drove back the way we came. I drove up to & driveway and done a U turn. gason had to direct me back out onto the main xoad and jt took me a while to work out where we Wore. once we had riven to Bulleen Road I knew where T was and Jason told me to get onto the Rastern Freeway. 7 recall passing a small Strip shopping Centre just before we got back onto the freeway. While we were driving along Jason was still chatting away to me. I didn’t ask where he went or what he did and he Giant tell me, He instructed me to drive into the city and T got on the freeway and turned into Hoddle Street. He told me to turn right at Swen Street and we went along there and over the ridge into Alexander Avenue. We continued onto City Road in south Melbourne and as we were passing McDonalds in City Road we drove through the customer drive-through and bought some hamburgersRUSSELL WARREN. SMT! After we left McDonalds, Jason told me to drive to Williamstown. t didn’t ask why but I thought maybe we were going to see his brother Mark who lived over that side of town. 1 érove onto the Westgate Freeway ané uP onto the bridge. Jason was eating his Mcbonalds while sitting in the passenger seat. When we got to the very cop of the bridge Jason put down his window. He threw his MeDonalds bag out of the window over the railing of the bridge. We were driving at that time in the far left lene heading towards Williamstown. = The Meponald's bag would have ended up in the water below or near there anyway. gason told me to get off the freeway at Williamstows oad and then after that I turned right into Williamstown Road. jagoa was still directing me at this time and he told me to do a left turn at a set of traffic lights in Prancis Street. 1 think it’s Francis Street anyway. We then turned into Millers noad and I can remember driving pass a hotel on the right side, 1 don’t know the name of it and he told me to turn at a set of lights just after the hotel. When I drove into this street, T don’t know the name of it, we Grove over s school crossing and a little further up LU Sr this chool end Jason told me to turn right and then left. When we drove into this street Jason told me to Stop outside a house. whe house was neax a bend in the road and Jason got out of the car, } had to move the car forward a bit as the back end of the car was hanging out 2 little bit. gason got out and went into a nearby house. He told me he would be back in about two minutes. again I didn’t ask him where he was going or who he was seeing. — Jason was only gone for a couple of minutes, it was less that five minutes and when he returned he told me to doa U turn and go back into town TOTALRUSSELL WARREN SUITE over the Westgate bridge. I think it was around midnight when we arrived at Williamstown, Tt had taken about @ half your or a little more to drive from Templestowe to Williamstown. As we were heading back into town Jason told me to drive home to my place. I went back to my flat in Hotham Street preston. We arrived back there between 12.90-12.45 a-m- When we got to my place I asked Jason if he wanted to come inside but he said that he had to get going. 1 gave him the keys and said good-bye and Jason left. x went inside and went to bed. The next morning I was listening to the radio news when I heard about @ murder in Templestowe. As soon as I heard Templestowe ang that it was @ ‘gang-land figure’ who had been killed 1 started to get nervous. I didn’t know if Jason had anything to do with it but T started to think he may have. Later on that day the name if the man killed in Templestowe was released. It was Alphonse GANGITANO. to say I wes shocked would be an understatement. T thought then that gason was involved as he knew Alphonse and I started to get suspicious of his actions from the previous night. I started to think about what had happened. It was then I realised that when Jason threw hig McDonald's bag out of the car that it had gone a fair distance. It seemed unusual as normally the wind would have grabbed it but it did not appear that wey. I thought that Jason may have put something into the pag before he threw it out the window. 1 didn’t see him place anything in it but thinking back it looked suspicious to me. mew Jason always carried a gun. Over the time I knew him I saw Rim armed numerous times. I don’t know why he carried them but he seemed to like guns He said he carried guns for protection. Tt was always hand-guns ne bad with him. 10RUSSELL WARREN SMITH 1 don't know where he got them from but he always went axmed wherever he went. I never saw him use a gun bat he talked about guns to me on occasions. He told me about one pistol in particular which was @ magnum. He said that he liked it as it was well balanced. qwo days later Jason came to my flat in Hotham Street. fe didn’t arrange to come over, he just turned up out of the blue, Tt was early in the morning when he arrived about 7am. rt was still in bed when he came around. When he was there Jason and I sat down in the lounge and we started to smoke a bong together. Jason then started to ee didn’t. Jason came straight out and said that Alphonse had been ‘put off! He paid, “Alphonse has been put off. Have you heard from a ae. i said, ‘No. You know I fel] out over the smack with him.” ge said, ‘Well listen don’t talk to any of the crew, especially 4B wd don't tell anyone you were driving me the other night." T said, "Yeah sweet.” He said, “Are you going to the funeral?’ Isaid, "Yeah." He said, ‘You better not as the coppers will be all over the place" I said, ‘Yeah sweet." Jason then left my place at about 8.00 a.m.. at‘RUSSELL WARREN SMITE t knew Jason was talking about me dxiving him to remplestowe and my impression was that hé was somehow involved im Alphonse’s death. He didn’t come ight out and say it but + believed that he was somehow involved. I was pretty nervous as I was now convinced that Jason wes involved and I had some ymowledge about his involvement. I was scared for my own safety as I thought that Jason may harm me or do something to keep me quite. I didn’t tell anybody about what I knew or my suspicious about Jason. 2 couple of days later CSB: and I spoke over the phone. @@@vas calling everybody he knew asking about Alphonse‘s murder. I can xecall Miffrasking me specially 4£ 1 knew anything about it and if Jason was involved. I told yim 1 knew nothing and I didn’t think Jason MORAN was involved. ee + didn’t bear from anybody else. After Jason’s warning T didn't attend the funeral. since the incident happened I have become very paranoid. 1 am very scared about what may happen to me. I think Jason MORAN is the kind of person who could kill or harm me to keep me quiet. on the 25th of April 1998, ANZAC day, 1 was arrested and charged with four counts of theft of motor car by the Preston uniform police. r have been held in remand at the Preston Watchouse since that day. ince I have been on remand the incident with Jason as well as other matters bas been playing on my mind. Not only am I sick of always looking over my shoulder for Jason MORAN but I just want to change my life around. 1 want to make a fresh Start and I am sick of my whole life. It was because of this that I spoke to the Preston C.1.B. 1 toid them T nad knowledge about Alphonse GANGITANO’s murder as well as other things I knew 12RUSSELL WARREN SMITH about. The person I actually spoke to was Alan JEPHCOTT After talking to him on the Wednesday, 29th April 1998, he contacted the Homicide Squad. They come out and spoke to me at the Preston Police Station. 1 spoke to the police by my own free will. I did not attempt to strike any deal with any police about bail or dropping any charges against me- They have also not made any promises to me or held out any inducements. It has heen my own choice to speak to the police. Last night I spoke to Detective Sergeant SOLOMON and Detective Grant KELLY from the Homicide Squad. T spoke to them in an interview room at the Preston Police Station. = told them bout what I knew about Alphonse’s death. This morning, the 30th of April 1998, I was taken pefore the Magistrates Court at Preston where the police made an application for me to be place in Detective KELLY’s custody. This was to help them make enquiries into Alphonse GANGITANO’s death. The Magistrates asked me if I consented and I said yes. He also asked me if the police had made any promises oF inducements to get them me to help them and I told him no, The police application was then granted and I was placed in Detective KELLY's custody. Before I went to court this morning @ legal Aid solicitor, a female, spoke to me in the cells at Preston Police Station. She advised me not to consent to the Police application and not to talk to them. I did not take her advice and I explained to her that I was the person who approached the police. I can state that no promises or inducements have been heid out to me by the police and I am helping them of my own free will and choice. 13ROSSELL WARREN SHIT after the court granted the order, Detective KELLY, sergeant SOLOMON and Detective JEPHCOTT placeé me in 2 unmarked ae ae where i had drove Jason that night we left. the Preston police station and I directed them along Bell Street to Manningham Road. I had them tum into yemplestowe Road and drive along there for e while. I had them make a tum at a Shell Service Station. T think it was Blackburn Road. 1 then directed them to turn right into some street running off Blackburn Road. 1 think one of them was Serpells Road and some other streets, the names of which I can't remember. was unable to show them exactly where 1 @rove Jason that night but the area looked very familiar. I can say it was the same area that Jason had me drive him to on that night. All the houses there looked the same to me and the night Jason had me drive him there was the only time T had been to that area of remplestowe. It was also dark ané jate at night so I was not able to show the police the exact area Put where I did take them was pretty close. as I said earlier the street I was in had & incline at che start of it. I parked on a flat section of the street. Nothing else stood out to me on the night that I can remember, except turning at the Shell Service station. After leaving the Templestowe area the police drove along the freeway and I directed them along the same route that Jason and I had took on the night. We even stopped at the same Meponalds at the intersection of Clarendon Street and City Road in South Melbourne. 1 directed them to drive over the Westgate Bridge and T pointed out the spot that Jason threw the bag out the car window, It was right up top of the bridge near the second pylon 14RUS! WARREN SHITE LL WARREN SMITE + saw @ box on the eide of the peidge, I think it was a signal pox and it had 4a2 on the box- There was a second signal box with 422 on it. Jason threw the bag out between these boxes as we were ariving in the fax left lene we got off at the Williamstown Road exit and turned right just as Jason an I had done. I then took the police along Francis Street and Millers Road and had them make a left turn at Mason Street. I got them to drive over @ school crossing and had them turn right at a school at the intersection of Second Avenue ana left into Hendren. f then had the police turn right into First Avenue. ‘This is the street that gason had me drive him to on the night. 4 told the police to stop the car just passed the bend. hig is the exact same spot I parked in. 1 saw today the I would have been stopped outside number two First Avenue. I believe that Jason went into a house in First Avenue, I don’t know what house he went into but he was only gone a minute. The night T Grove Jason to the house was the first time T had Deen in that area. After showing then this house the police took me to the Homicide Squad Office at St Kilda Read where 7 made this statement to Detective KELLY At no time has there been any threats or promises mace to me. AS stated earlier T want to change my life around and + look upon this as the first end most important step. + make tnig ctatement of my own free will and I am prepared to give evidence in Court if need be. t had no idea that Jason was going to go to Alphonse GaNerTaNo’s house on that night and I don’t know if he did. I thought that Al still lived in Eaglemont. 7 had no knowledge about what happened to Alphonse or how he was killed. I have no knowledge if Jason MORAN and Alphonse GANGZTANO nad some kind of falling out. = know they were facing charges over some 41s TOTAL’ RUSSELL se exy scared for TY own Seik’t nigatclub. prawl I an vi qmow what Jason moran as capable of. ghis ie 7Y moment as T for going te the police- main reacom Russell SMITH rnessed statement taken ana signature Wi uieenetne go ces ‘on ene 30th Gay of ppeil 1998 at St Kilda Road and correct ané false statement of perjury: is true I hex acknowledge © yon the belief & in these ‘circumstances iS Tiable to the penalties Russell SMITH acknowledgment taken and signature witnessed at 8.10 p.m. OF i1 1998 Kilda Road. the 30th day of april by me at st 16