Judy Moran charged with murder

Gangland widow Judy Moran has been charged with the murder of her brother-in-law Des
Moran, five weeks after wailing over his dead body in the doorway of a Melbourne
cafe.
Moran and family friend Suzanne Kane were both charged with murder on Monday after
initially being charged with being accessaries after the fact.
Purana detectives believe they now have more evidence for a motive and have also
examined further CCTV footage on the streets near the murder scene, which has led to
the laying of upgraded charges.
Kane's boyfriend Geoffrey Armour was last month charged with the murder of Mr Moran
who was gunned down by two gunmen at the busy Ascot Pasta and Deli Cafe in Ascot
Vale at lunchtime on June 15.
All three will appear at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
Kane and Armour will also appear in court on Friday when police will ask for DNA
samples from the pair in relation to the murder weapon, several other items found
after the murder and some articles of clothing retrieved following an earlier
attempt on Mr Moran's life in March.
Another gunman and getaway driver are still being sought by police.
Moran, 64, has been in custody at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre since bail was
refused on June 17, on the grounds she was considered a danger to the community
because she had access to a cache of weapons.
The court appearance on June 17 heard that three handguns were hidden in a safe at
Moran's house, around the corner from the murder scene, while a loaded shotgun was
hidden under cushions a metre away from her back door.
Number plates from the getaway vehicle and clothing matching the description of that
worn by the gunmen were allegedly found in a safe at Moran's house.
It was also alleged that Moran, whose husband Lewis was shot dead in a Brunswick bar
in 2004, had dumped the getaway car within walking distance of her home.
It is widely believed gangland patriarch Lewis left his brother a significant amount
of money, stoking the mutual dislike shared between Des and Judy Moran.
Finance is understood to be a major motive behind Mr Moran's murder.
Shortly after Mr Moran was shot at the cafe, eyewitness Han Carkeek said Judy Moran
was at the scene, screaming "Dessy, Dessy" when she saw his body slumped in the
doorway.
Little more than 24 hours later, she was arrested, along with Kane, the
sister-in-law of her youngest son Jason, who was gunned down in 2003.
Her other son Mark was killed in 2000, the first of the Moran family to be
assassinated in Melbourne's bloody gangland war which has claimed at least 26 lives.
Kane, 45, is the sister of Jason Moran's widow and she and Armour, 43, were
allegedly staying with Moran at the time of the murder.
In a case described by Victoria's police chief as "stranger than fiction", Moran's
house sustained $150,000 damage in a suspicious fire hours after she was charged
with being an accessary on June 16.
Victoria's top prosecutor Gavin Silbert, SC, said the house fire "might have been
seen as some sort of retribution that may endanger the public".
The arson squad have yet to make any arrests in relation to the fire.
The two women are used to deaths in their families.
Judy Moran has lost two husbands, Lewis Moran and her first husband Les Cole, as
well as her two sons.
Kane has also had her share of family tragedy. Her father Les Kane and uncle Brian
Kane were both shot dead.