VIC:Police swoop on Williams prisonmate's home

AAP General News (Australia)
04-28-2011
VIC:Police swoop on Williams prisonmate's home

By Michelle Draper

MELBOURNE, April 28 AAP - Police investigating the circumstances of gangland figure
Carl Williams' violent death have searched the family home of his former prisonmate.

Taskforce Driver police went to the Brunswick West home of the family of Tommy Ivanovic,
who shared a high-security unit at Barwon Prison with Williams and his alleged killer
Matthew Johnson, on Thursday morning.

Johnson is accused of bludgeoning Williams to death with an exercise bike shaft on
April 19 last year.

He has been committed to stand trial over the murder.

"Little Tommy" Ivanovic is serving 20 years jail, with a 15-year minimum, for murder
over a road rage incident in 2002.

An Ivanovic family member at the house on Thursday said she was shocked by the early
morning raid.

"It was a shock, they told us it was to do with a very old matter," the woman said.

She also defended her convicted relative, who remains behind bars in Barwon Prison.

"What happened with Tommy was an isolated incident, he is trying his best to rehabilitate
..." she told AAP.

About six police officers searched the faded blue weatherboard house and a beat-up
white Falcon parked out the front.

They left several hours later carrying boxes and paper bags.

Three men were also arrested at separate locations in Melbourne as part of the same
investigation, but later released pending further inquiries.

The men, a 52-year-old from Preston and two Brunswick men, aged 37 and 40, were questioned
in relation to an attempted murder in 2001.

The shooting was one of two attempts on the victim's life.

The then 32-year-old victim was first targeted by a gunman while reversing his car
out of the driveway of his home in Bent Street, Westmeadows on November 22, 1999.

He suffered gunshot wounds to his shoulder in that attack.

There was a further attempt on his life on May 15, 2001 in the front doorway of his
home in which he suffered minor injuries.

Police believe two men waited in a neighbour's yard before ambushing the victim, opening
fire on his property while his family was inside.

Two men who saw the gunmen fleeing the scene have given statements to police but anyone
else with information is being urged to come forward.

Detective Superintendent Doug Fryer, the head of Taskforce Driver, said a number of
investigations were ongoing.

"Driver Task Force detectives are continuing to investigate several historic crimes
that can be linked to associates of Carl Williams," he said in a statement.

"We have a number of leads and are appealing for further information."

Taskforce Driver was established two days after Williams' death to investigate all
aspects of his murder.

The taskforce, overseen by Office of Police Integrity director Michael Strong, reports
to Deputy Commissioner (Crime) Sir Ken Jones.

Announcing the taskforce last year, Sir Ken said Williams' murder had potentially wide-ranging
implications and Driver was created to address this.

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KEYWORD: DRIVER WRAP

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