Victor George Peirce (11 November 1958 – 1 May 2002) was an Australian gangster from

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Victoria. Peirce was a member of the Pettingill family, which was headed by

matriarch Matriarchy is a social system in which positions of power and privilege are held by women. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege, and control of property. While those definitions apply in general English, ...

and former

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

brothel owner

Kath Pettingill Kathleen "Kath" Pettingill (born 27 March 1935) is the matriarch of the Melbourne criminal family, the Pettingill family. Family Pettingill's 10 children are: (with Dennis Ryan) * Dennis Bruce Allen (1951–1987) – a drug dealer, jailed fo ...

Walsh Street police shootings

In 2005, Peirce's widow, Wendy Peirce gave an interview to Australian media detailing how her husband planned and carried out the 1988

Walsh Street police shootings The Walsh Street police shootings occurred in the early hours of 12 October 1988 in South Yarra, Melbourne, Australia. Victoria Police constables Steven Tynan, 22, and Damian Eyre, 20, were investigating an abandoned vehicle on Walsh Street wh ...

, a crime for which he was acquitted by jury along with three accomplices after she failed to give truthful evidence in court.

Death

Peirce was shot dead in a car parked opposite the Coles supermarket in Bay St,

Port Melbourne Port Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of the Melbourne central business district, located within the Cities of City of Melbourne, Melbourne and City of Port Phillip, Port Phillip Local government ...

on 1 May 2002. His funeral was held on 9 May 2002, at the Saint Peter and Paul's Parish Church in

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at the 2021 ...

. Father Bob Maguire conducted the service. Peirce was later buried at the Altona Memorial Park. Present was Jason Moran, former running mate of slain gangster Alphonse Gangitano. Moran was a suspect in the murder of Gangitano, who was shot dead in his

Templestowe Templestowe is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 16 km north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Manningham local government area. Templestowe recorded a population of 16,966 at the . The ...

home on 16 January 1998. On 22 June 2007,

Victoria Police Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the Australian States and territories of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It was formed in 1853 and currently operates under the ''Victoria Police Act 2013''. , Victor ...

arrested Faruk Orman in the western suburb of

Sunshine Sunlight is the portion of the electromagnetic radiation which is emitted by the Sun (i.e. solar radiation) and received by the Earth, in particular the visible light perceptible to the human eye as well as invisible infrared (typically per ...

, alleging he was the driver for Peirce's killers. In September 2007 Vince Benvenuto—brother of Frank Benvenuto, an underworld identity reputedly under the protection of Victor Peirce and murdered May 2000—was arrested for

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, ...

. ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' reported that when asked whether he was arrested as a result of the Purana investigation, police replied: "He's a suspect in relation to the murder of Victor Peirce." But it was hitman Andrew "Benji" Veniamin who shot Pierce dead. Veniamin claimed "If I don't get Victor he'll get me first". An unnamed man who drove Veniamin to the killing was found guilty of the murder in September 2009 and was sentenced in November 2009 to a minimum of 14 years in prison, which took into account more than two years he had already been in custody; in 2013 it was revealed that it was Orman. However, Orman's conviction was quashed in 2019, due to

miscarriages of justice A miscarriage of justice occurs when an unfair outcome occurs in a criminal or civil proceeding, such as the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they did not commit. Miscarriages are also known as wrongful convictions. Innocent p ...

by his former lawyer and notorious police informant Nicola Gobbo. Veniamin was later killed in 2004 by Domenic "Mick" Gatto. Gatto told the court that it was in self-defence, and was acquitted by a

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence, make Question of fact, findings of fact, and render an impartiality, impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty or Judgmen ...

In television

In 2008, he was portrayed by actor Andrew Gilbert in the series '' Underbelly''. He was also portrayed in the 2011 Australian television series '' Killing Time''.

References

External links

Murder hits home for widow of gangland killer
2004-03-10, The Age

By Leo Shanahan, 2007-06-22, The Age {{DEFAULTSORT:Peirce, Victor Australian gangsters Australian bank robbers Australian murder victims Australian drug traffickers Victims of the Melbourne gangland killings Pettingill family 1958 births 2002 deaths People murdered in Victoria (state) People acquitted of murder Criminals from Melbourne Deaths by firearm in Victoria (state) 2002 murders in Australia