Williams feared aiding police probe: dad

Slain underworld killer Carl Williams became so concerned about helping a police
investigation that he needed to explain himself to his accused murderer, who did not
like people who gave evidence.
Williams' father George told the committal hearing for Matthew Charles Johnson that
his son discussed his decision to help police with family and friends as well as the
inmates with whom he shared a high-security Acacia unit at Barwon Prison.
Johnson is alleged to have bludgeoned Williams to death with a bicycle seat post
inside the unit on April 19 this year.
In a statement tendered to the court on Thursday, Mr Williams said his son was
worried his co-operation with the police might become known to fellow prisoners.
"He had to live with Matty (Johnson), he thought it was best to explain it to him,"
he said.
"Matty doesn't like people who give evidence against others."
The hearing in the Geelong Magistrates' Court also heard Johnson raised the alarm
after the fatal attack on Williams.
Prison officer Suzette Gajic told the court that more than 30 minutes after Williams
had died, Johnson had urged her to sound the alarm.
Ms Gajic said after Johnson told her Williams had been "hit in the head" and was in
his cell, she ran into the prison yard yelling: "Carl's down, Carl's down."
In other evidence, George Williams told how police took him and his son out of
Barwon Prison for 10 days in December 2008, taking them to a secret location where
Carl assisted a police corruption investigation.
As a result of this lengthy absence from prison, Carl Williams decided to explain
himself to Johnson and a third prisoner, Tommy Ivanovic.
He also asked soon afterwards to be transferred to another section of the Acacia
unit where he could be among other old friends, including Ange Goussis.
Williams and Goussis were convicted of the murder of rival underworld figure Lewis
Moran.
George Williams said in his statement that after his own release from prison in
mid-2009 he detected signs his son's previously close friendship with Johnson may
have begun to sour.
He told the court he and his son had supported Johnson morally and financially, and
at his son's suggestion he had made monthly deposits into Johnson's prison spending
account.
But Carl's attitude changed shortly before his death.
"When I spoke to Carl about the April deposit, he seemed a bit different," he said.
"It was like he was hesitant ... like there was some tension."
George Williams said when he last spoke to his son during a prison visit less than
an hour before he was killed, Carl had been concerned about stories in that day's
newspaper claiming police were paying his children's school fees and that a $750,000
tax bill had been settled, also by Victoria Police.
The news prompted Carl to renew requests to be moved to a new unit.
"He was a bit upset," George Williams told the court.
"He was worried what was going to come out in the paper next."
The court had earlier heard Ivanovic feared he was also on a hit list.
In his statement, Mr Williams said that on the day of his son's death, Ivanovic had
telephoned a mutual friend and told her he had been threatened and feared he was
next.
The hearing before magistrate Rosemary Carlin is expected to conclude on Friday.