Australian gangster Judy Moran convicted of killing brother-in-law

The matriarch of Melbourne's most notorious criminal family has been found guilty of murdering her brother-in-law, who was gunned down in a cafe in the Australian city two years ago. Judy Moran , whose first two husbands and two sons died in gang violence, was found guilty of murdering Des "Tuppence" Moran at the supreme court following a month-long trial. Des Moran had already survived an attempt on his life in March 2009, when a bullet passed through his windscreen and lodged in the steering wheel. Three months later, two men wearing balaclavas shot the 61-year-old dead as he drank a coffee in the Ascot Vale cafe. Judy Moran, who arrived on the scene within 15 minutes, shouting: "Dessy, Dessy, Dessy!", was arrested the next day and charged with being an accessory. The jury was told that Judy Moran, 66, drove Geoffrey "Nuts" Armour and his friend and eventual prosecution witness, Michael Farrugia, to and from the cafe and later disposed of evidence. Mark Rochford SC, prosecuting, told the court that the murder sprang from a row over money between Judy Moran and her brother-in-law. "This was a planned and calculated murder motivated by [Judy] Moran … and an ongoing financial dispute with [Des Moran]," he said. The Melbourne Herald Sun reported that Farrugia, who gave evidence against Judy Moran, told the court he had believed he was on a debt-collecting mission. Farrugia identified Judy Moran as the driver and said she told him and Armour to get rid of the evidence after the shooting. Armour has pleaded guilty to murder, while Farrugia has pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Judy Moran, who had pleaded not guilty to murder and being an accessory, told the court that she had been visiting the grave of her son Mark on the morning of the murder to mark the ninth anniversary of his death. "Obviously you don't know me as a person," she told Rochford as he cross-examined her. "I wouldn't be involved in anything like that at my age now – let alone all the other 60 years." But after a week of deliberations, the jury disagreed. Following the verdict, police released video footage of officers searching her home. In it, detectives empty a concealed safe and discover handguns, a wig, a ski mask and a magazine of hollow-point bullets. Judy Moran can be heard denying knowledge of the contents of the safe. Melbourne's gangsters – who live and die by their motto "we catch and kill our own" – have achieved celebrity status, even inspiring a popular television series. Their wars have claimed dozens of lives, many of them Morans. Judy Moran's first husband died in gang violence in Sydney 19 years ago, while her sons Mark and Jason and second husband, Lewis Moran, were all killed in quick succession during the worst of the city's gangland clashes. Within two weeks of Lewis's death in 2003, Judy Moran had signed a contract to write her autobiography. In it, she thanked her hairdresser "for all the hairstyles you created for me for the funerals of all my family". She will be sentenced at a later date.