Murder victim Wayne Boyd with his wife Shelley. Source: Supplied
IT was the forgotten murder of Victoria's underworld killings, a small-time Queensland drug criminal who was found dumped on Melbourne's western fringe in November 2001.
Among the thieves and drug dealers of the underworld, Wayne Boyd's execution was known as the bowling ball murder - gallows humour about the fact he'd been shot three times in the head.
But a Melbourne court last week was told a story police have never admitted - that Boyd's murder was linked to police corruption - and documents show his murder helped fuel Melbourne's underworld war and involved outlaw motorcycle gangs as far away as Queensland.
The drugs Boyd had allegedly travelled to Melbourne to buy were part of 175kg - valued at $4.375 million on the black market - of the precursor chemical pseudoephedrine that were allegedly stolen by former drug squad cop Russell Bassett in August 2001 while he was working as a courier after leaving the force.
Bassett was eventually charged over the the theft, but acquitted in the County Court.
Last week underworld figure Kevin Farrugia was ordered to stand trial for Boyd's murder after a four-day committal that revealed the extraordinary tale of both police corruption and bravery, including how police prevented the murder of drug dealer Scott "Oz" Hamilton as his kidnappers drove him to the same area where Boyd had been killed less than three months earlier.
Hamilton, part of the Moran crew, refused to give a statement to police about his kidnapping, but was quizzed in 2008 by the Australian Crime Commission, which used coercive powers to force him to give evidence.
According to the brief of evidence, the ACC told Hamilton they believed he was to be killed as part of a drug rip-off, and his kidnapping was eerily similar to the Boyd murder.
"Do you know who my next victim is?" Farrugia was allegedly picked up saying on a listening device, according to the documents lodged with the Melbourne Magistrates' Court. "The f------ Oz, they're going to clean him up, mate."
Police allege Boyd was kidnapped and murdered for a similar reason: to steal $260,000 he had bought to Melbourne to pay for some of the 175kg of stolen pseudoephedrine.
Farrugia's murder charge followed a decade-long investigation and used the coercive powers of the Australian Crime Commission to force the underworld to reveal its secrets.
Boyd was a 39-year-old father of two who ran a nursery in the Gold Coast hinterland but was also a bit player on the glitter strip's drug scene.
He was a heavy speed user and amphetamines cook who was introduced to a feared crew of criminals in Melbourne though Gary Nelson, a used car salesman who moved to the Gold Coast in the 1990s after the break-up of his first marriage.
Nelson lost his car business on the Gold Coast and turned to cooking speed, hiring himself out to criminals across the country.
Police documents say the crew included Farrugia and Christian DeBono, and it controlled much of the speed scene in Melbourne's west, flying in cooks, including Nelson, from around the country.
Nelson was allegedly paid $10,000 per cook, and told Boyd the Cardona crew had access to the 175kg of pure pseudoephedrine, a valuable commodity in an industry in which speed is usually made from ground-up cold and flu tablets.
"Police identified an extensive methyl amphetamine drug manufacturing distribution network within the western suburbs of Melbourne with links throughout Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland," says a statement of material facts lodged with the courts.
"That network was controlled by Frank Cardona. Cardona employed the services of a number of younger males including Christian DeBono, Shayne Spratling, Tony Daniels and (Kevin Farrugia)."
From about September 2001, Boyd and his associates travelled to and from Melbourne, negotiating with the crew over the purchase of the "pseudo", taking batches back to Queensland.
Both Nelson and Boyd knew they were in over their heads, and told associates they were in fear of the crew.
Boyd allegedly complained that the crew were mafia, while Nelson thought several times he would be killed after speed cooks at a house in Lancefield went wrong.
Cardona, aka Old Man or Archie, has a fierce temper and is a known associate of underworld kingpin Tony Mokbel.
"He was like the fairy godfather," Nelson told police in 2004.
At one point Farrugia allegedly heavied the Boyd syndicate, telling one of their associates they needed to place bigger orders.
"Find out off your boss what he wants and make sure he has the money . . . Do not f--- around with us," Farrugia allegedly said, according to the documents lodged with the court during his committal last week. "If you f--- around with us you will cop a bullet in the head."
According to one witness, members of the criminal syndicate became increasingly suspicious of Boyd.
"Kevin was at the house, on this night I overheard him say he thought Wayne was an undercover cop," Nelson said in a statement to police.
Cardona also allegedly met Boyd on the day of the murder and was in phone contact, according to court documents.
Boyd was carrying $260,000 when he was murdered - at least some of which had been borrowed from Finks outlaw motorcycle members in Queensland - to pay for the stolen "pseudo".
After his murder, the Finks tried to heavy members of Boyd's family in an attempt to recover the money. Nelson, too, went into hiding, fleeing his home with his wife and hiding out in motels and caravan parks.
Hand-up brief documents show a witness told the Australian Crime Commission that Cardona and Farrugia told him to lie to police and say they were with him in Lancefield on the night of the murder.
Only Farrugia has been charged over the murder.
Now 40, with a young daughter, Farrugia was denied bail on Thursday and ordered to reappear next month so a trial date for the Boyd murder can be set.
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