The North Victorian town of Shepparton has a history which is in most ways similar to that of Mildura. Both serve as the fertile regions that have forever helped to keep up supply of fresh produce to the capital. Also similar to Mildura, Shepparton has long been home to a sizable Italian community. In April of 1951, the Shepparton Advertiser took pride in quoting Senior Detective W. Bateman of the local CIB, who had stated that “…no complaints have been made…” regarding any mafia-type activities in Shepparton.
Although Senior Detective Bateman had also stated that it was an ongoing matter for the CIB, the local paper managed to twist his words, just enough to be able to imply that “…no complaints…” of Black Hand gangs or mafia secret societies in Shepparton was, for all intents and purposes, equal to stateing its complete absence.
Perhaps a hint of civic pride manifested in ignoring “the local game”, because other periodicals from the time actually did make semi-regular mention of the extortionists that had been targeting growers along the Murray River districts and Shepparton itself. In any case, the Italian community in Shepparton has long managed to maintain a sense of stability, with the greater majority of growers carting with and dealing their produce through the suggested firms. What would make Shepparton stand out in Australia’s Calabrian Mafia annals, is the curious case of a young man named Rocco Andrew Iaria.
Rocco’s parents were immigrant husband and wife, Antonio and Raffaella Iaria. They were longtime residents of Shepparton, who made a living off the small orchard they maintained. Of the six children they would have, Rocco was their second youngest, born in 1971.
***An Antonio Iaria (born September 11th, 1931) is listed as attending the infamous 1957 Brunswick meeting, later among those charged for possessing a weapon, in his case a knife found tucked into his sock. This is simply as a point of interest; I am not suggesting this was the same Antonio. Despite mysterious comments regarding “Italian-style revenge” to Underbelly authors.***
Interviews with Rocco’s family were conducted by the esteemed writer Andrew Rule, for a chapter in the classic Australian true-crime book series, Underbelly. In the interviews, Antonio Iaria described a normal and well-adjusted child, loved by all for his friendly and humorous nature. In his teens, the boy now chiefly known by friends as Rocky had begun exhibiting somewhat of an edge, with a former reputation for mischief developing into something more potentially sinister. Like many young men in Australia, Rocky developed a keen interest in cars. And also like many young men, Rocky began to cultivate the image of a “tough guy”. It was these two aspects of the young mans life that brought him to the attention of Vincent Paul Latorre.
A longtime presence in Shepparton, the Latorre family had made a small fortune in the produce industry. Much more than his brothers though, Vincent Paul Latorre was also regarded locally with a measure of fear. As the natural leader of a small crew of thugs, Latorre is said to have revelled in his supposed status as a member of the Society, and traded upon his reputation for violence in an extortion racket that targeted local growers. With claimed links to Melbourne ‘ndrine, Latorre regularly demanded huge sums from cowed locals, and would come to represent the ‘ndrangheta in Shepparton, a group perhaps too small for an independent locale, but still capable of instilling fear through Latorre, commanding a number of lackeys seemingly in thrall to him.
As the owner of a pair of muscle cars, Vince Latorre captivated the young Iaria, who eventually became one of his gophers. Rocky would become a regular amongst Latorre’s crew, which at various times has included his brothers John, Mario and Frank, his son Daniel, thug types such as Vincent Mantovani and Giuseppe Campisi, farm employee James Collyer, to perhaps the most dangerous and mysterious figure of his circle, Daniel Michael Murtagh, sometimes spelled Murtaugh.
Commanding a reputation that more than matched Latorre’s, Danny Murtagh had a long association with violent crime. Having married into a local Italian family, for many years Murtagh was regarded as a well-known stand-over type, who had also become deeply involved with Latorre in a theft and stolen goods ring that took aim at prosperous locals. A string of such crimes had marked Rocky’s foray into the murky world inhabited by the likes of Latorre and Murtagh. In May of 1989, the crew was behind a decision to raid the home of a local success story, Stephen Monti.
Monti was a Bendigo farmer who had made a fortune in tomato crops. On the 16th of May, his home was broken into. Besides the typically sought-after items that included expensive appliances, audio and visual accessories, jewellery and the like, the most important aspect of the robbery was the discovery and theft of a safe, which held besides some few hundred thousand dollars, an estimate of nearly half a million or more in gold and jewellery.
In statements made some time after the robbery, Monti’s wife Annette spoke about her acquaintance with Mario Latorre, one of Vincent’s brothers. With both being known for their long-established presence at the Footscray Markets, she told of the poor taste in “jokes” that Mario would occasionally crack at her and her husbands expense. Such jokes usually referenced the well-known financial success the couple had achieved, with inquiries to what they did with all their money.
In the aftermath, the most troubling aspect to Monti was the fact that the safe had been well hidden; only someone close to him would have known where it was secreted.
Soon after the Monti burglary, one of his brothers would describe an occassion finding Rocky somewhat distant an withdrawn. Shortly prior to his murder, he had spoken to his brothers of vaguely described concerns. Rocky would confide in friend Frank Primerano that he had recently made a terrible mistake, or that he felt like he was in some form of imminent danger. In fact, with the looming threat of the upcoming trials, Rocky Iaria had made some serious miscalculations with his share of the heist. In particular, investigators had latched upon a video-recorder Rocky had sold a relative for only $150.
Despite these apparent fears, when called to attend a meeting with Latorre and Murtagh, Rocky would not hesitate. Having ruminated with his brothers and friends, Rocky entered his vehicle and drove to the meeting place.
Investigators would claim that upon arrival, Rocky was attacked by both men, with Latorre taking hold of the young man’s limbs, while the other blasted a shotgun into the young man’s body seeking his death. Following the murder, investigators would claim that Iaria’s body was quickly doused with lime, wrapped in plastic and then taken on an elaborate route to disposal; Iaria was dumped into a grave that was already holding a body. He was last seen alive on the 6th of December, 1989.
He had only recently appeared in court for the first time, charged with Latorre in regard to the Monti burglary, where a mistrial had been announced. Iaria was shortly due to reappear, alongside Latorre again. Following Rocky’s murder, Susan Pellen SC, who had served as assisting council to the coroner during the first trial, released a damning statement. She explained that Iaria had secretly recorded a meeting between himself, Vince Latorre, his brother John Latorre, Phillip Dunn QC and herself. In essence, the tape indicated that should one defendant plead guilty or be otherwise separated, the prosecutor’s case would be significantly weakened. Which is exactly what happened when Latorre stood trial by himself and was acquitted of charges.
This proved especially lucky for Latorre, considering the series of blunders surrounding the robbery. For example, his distinctive car was noticed at least four times in the area around the time of the incident. Also, besides his amateur mistakes with the loot, there were the farcical reports that described Iaria as having attempted to hide behind a street sign, scrambling to appear non-descript as he was noticed around the Monti residence, supposely keeping lookout.
In the same year that Iaria was murdered, Vincent Latorre would be abducted from his home by two masked men. The pair are reported to have assaulted and gagged Latorre and his wife, before stuffing Vince into the backseat of a vehicle and taking off. Allegedly driven into bushland to be bashed and interrogated for over an hour, of course all manner of fear must have rushed Latorre’s head. Was it some form of retribution? Who had it come from? In the end, it proved to be less than it seemed.
After being dropped back at his house bruised and bloody, he allowed himself to be taken to hospital. Refusing to make an official statement, Latorre would reportedly make no effort towards assisting police in their inquiries any further beyond confirming that the incident had occurred.
Soon after the abduction, local police arrest two men in connection; former bouncers and reputed heavies, Chris Dudkowski and Robert Punicki. It is decided to have been an opportunistic attempt by the two towards obtaining a share in the suspected fortune stolen during the Monti burglary. They had little luck beyond being jailed for the attempt shortly after.
On the 19th of February, 1998, the body of Rocco Andrew Iaria is accidentally discovered by a gravedigger employed to open the grave of a woman who’s husband had recently passed away, and was to be buried alongside her. In fact, Rocky had been lying beside this woman for close to a decade. Following autopsy, the Iaria family were finally able to lay their son’s body to rest. The autopsy report indicated that Iaria had died as a result of being blasted by a shotgun, in at least three bursts; including one to the back and one to the head. Incidentally, cartridges of the exact same type were found in the home of Danny Murtagh by police making a separate line of inquiries in 1998.
After an inquest held in 2006, the chief coroner stated a satisfied belief that Vincent Latorre and Danny Murtagh had been responsible for the 1991 murder of Rocco Iaria. For his part, Latorre made loud proclamations against the accusation, insisting he and Iaria had been close friends.
It would have seemed to many as if Latorre had literally gotten away with murder, and for a few years he lived the charmed life, at the centre of the large extortion ring he had helped see implemented. During these years would emerge some descriptions of Latorre’s heinous nature; a campaign of arson, assault, rape threats and wilful damage against a score of victims.
In 2006, the culmination of an almost year-long investigation saw a series of raids on properties around the Goulbourne Valley. Latorre was arrested along with nine others, including his twenty-one year old son Daniel. He and his associates were committed to trial, facing a litany of charges in relation to the extortion ring he had run for years. In 2008, he was found guilty on multiple charges that ranged from threats to kill, serious assault, blackmail and criminal damage.
Court documents would later reveal that one of Lattore’s enforcers, Vincent Mantovani, had spoken to police about multiple crimes, and had also been recorded making serious threats of violence. Of particular interest was the claim that Latorre had told Mantovani that the Melbourne mob faction he belonged to had been responsible for the 2000 murder of Frank Benvenuto, the son of former boss Liborio. While still unsolved, the murder has been linked to the score committed by the psychotic gunman Andrew Veniaman, who would later be famously killed by Mick Gatto in what was deemed self-defence.
While perhaps at best little more than an empty boast, and at worst a deliberate lie on the part of an informant, the claim makes for an interesting theory. During one of Antonio Madafferi’s campaigns to keep his brother Frank from being deported, he had organised a series of fundraisers, aimed at Liberal Party coffers in blatant attempts towards currying favour with then Minister for Immigration, Amanda Vanstone.
At one such event in 2004, a confederation of fruit and vegetable sellers donated funds towards the efforts. Antonio himself donated $15000, while John Latorre, Vincent’s older brother, also made a donation of some thousands of dollars. John Latorre has maintained a long-standing presence in the Melbourne produce market, and on the surface this would seem to confirm the Latorre family association with Antonio Madafferi, the man who would spend hundreds of thousands in unfruitful attempts to keep his name out of the media reports that constantly made mention of the high-ranking position investigators claimed he held in the Melbourne ‘ndrine. Madafferi is related to the Benvenuto’s by marriage, and so a link between this faction and the Benvenuto murder would raise all manner of intrigue.
Sentenced in 2009 to eleven and a half years with a non-parole period of eight years and three months, in what was possibly less than seven years Latorre would be back on the street, in time to be discovered in possession of a traffickable quantity of cocaine by February 2015. He would be remanded to trial.
TO BE UPDATED
Mafia in Australia 