John Furlan

Furlan, 48, died when his white Subaru Liberty exploded into a fireball as he drove it along Lorenson Ave, Merlynston, at about 8.35am on August 3 1998.

The Coburg wrecking yard owner and father of two died instantly in the massive blast, which carried such force it could easily have killed many others.

Debris was thrown hundreds of metres, damaging houses.

A keen angler, he had returned from a four-day fishing trip to Tasmania less than 24 hours before the explosion.

Mr Furlan was killed just a few minutes after leaving his Sydney Rd home where he lived alone.

He is believed to have had enemies but most friends questioned whether someone would have borne a grudge strong enough to lead to a car bombing.

Experts from Europe, Japan and the United States helped forensic scientists piece together thousands of fragments.

The bomb was made of commercially available explosive widely used in the mining industry.

Mr Furlan, who operated two businesses -- VW Auto Salvage and Suba Wreck -- had a reputation as a tough businessman.

He and the mother of his daughter, 21, and son, 19, had been amicably separated for years.

On August 13, 1998, it was revealed that John Furlan had threatened to kill a man who he claimed owed him up to $40,000.

The Herald Sun had been told a long-time friend of Mr Furlan's said the threat was made in a heated telephone conversation about two months before his death.

"He said 'You might as well go and kill yourself now because you're going to get it'," the friend said.

"It's obvious they've just got in quicker than him."

The man said Mr Furlan had had a number of heated calls about the six-month-old business debt.

"He had been making noises to look around to get someone to harass the guy."

Homicide detectives were investigating the claims.

The man, who asked not to be identified, said he was not aware of Mr Furlan making similar threats in previous business disputes.

He said Mr Furlan relied on the money to finance his bachelor lifestyle.

"Most of his money was tied up in assets," he said.

"His business has been pretty quiet of late.

He had been (scaling it down) because he wanted to retire."

He said Mr Furlan was a brash businessman but a generous friend.

"When you dealt with him (in business) you never went back to him. He was just obnoxious."

But socially, he said Mr Furlan knew how to have a good time.

"If you went away for the weekend he was always putting his hand in his pocket."

But he denied Mr Furlan lived a life of double standards, secretly mixing with high society.

"It was just the broad range of people that he knew, that's all.

"He was a bit of an eccentric, I suppose. He always just wanted to be the person standing out at any party or barbecue."

A man called Crime Stoppers at 7.43pm on September 14 and 2.50pm on October 16 with information pertinent to the murder investigation.

Homicide squad detectives later appealed to the anonymous male caller who gave information on the Furlan case to contact them again.

Police spokesman Kevin Loomes said: "We urgently need him to phone us again. Even one minute detail could be the link police need."

On October 22, 1998, a Herald Sun story by Mark Buttler said homicide squad detectives believed documents seized in a police raid may have been linked to the death of Furlan.

Gaming and vice squad officers had seized the documents during a raid on a Richmond charity collection agency two nights before.

Homicide detectives hoped the documents and computer equipment would lead them to a suspect in the Furlan bombing.

The raid on the Victoria St agency was made as part of a probe into alleged discrepancies in a raffle.

Police said they had been disappointed with the response to a public appeal for information on a red four-wheel drive seen leaving the bomb scene 20 minutes before Mr Furlan died.

The early 1980s Toyota Landcruiser was an FJ 60 model with black tubular bull bar and chunky tyres.

Police were eager to speak to its driver.

On May 30, 1999, the Sunday Herald Sun reported that Furlan had a dispute with a notorious Melbourne crime figure over a business deal before his death.

Crime sources said  Furlan had received several "warnings" from the crime figure before his white Subaru Liberty exploded in a fireball.

The Sunday Herald Sun had been told the crime figure was a key member of a Melbourne-based gang.

Several members of the alleged crime syndicate recently had been charged with several counts of conspiring to import and deal drugs.

The Sunday Herald Sun had been told the crime gang was involved in activities including money laundering, drugs, burglary, and dealing in stolen goods such as mobile phones, antique jewellery, gold and cars.

The syndicate also had links to several bogus charities and introduction agencies throughout Australia.

The Sunday Herald Sun had been told one of the key members of the crime syndicate had boasted about the killing of Mr Furlan and also the disappearance of another man connected to the case.

Several members of the alleged crime syndicate were yet to face court on serious charges involving an abduction, assault and armed robbery.

The key police witness - a member of the crime gang - had agreed to give evidence against other members in return for immunity from prosecution.

The crime sources alleged Mr Furlan had been killed over a long dispute over money.

The sources claimed the alleged killer said he used too much explosive, that he never intended the explosion to be as big as it was.

The alleged killer, a long-time crime figure but who had no convictions, allegedly had talked of the killing during one of several meetings at the office of another criminal.

The Sunday Herald Sun had been provided with the names and other details of the crime syndicate and the identity of one criminal who had made previous threats against Mr Furlan.

Chief Insp. Brian Rix, of the Homicide Squad, said police continued to make inquiries and were determined to solve the case.

He said the criminal whose name had been provided to the Sunday Herald Sun was not previously identified as a suspect in the murder.

"We will certainly have a look at the information," Chief Insp. Rix said.

Mr Furlan's step-father, Zarko Filipec, said he was distraught the killer or killers of his stepson had not been found.

"It is very upsetting. We do not know why John was killed," he said.

"It is hard for us to accept. We do not know who would have done such a thing.
"We will not be happy until someone is caught."

Mr Filipec said his stepson had no criminal convictions, but had lost his driving licence in the past for drink-driving and had accrued several speeding fines.

Mr Filipec revealed Mr Furlan's sister, Luciano, had died aged 15 in tragic circumstances in 1969.

She was killed when the stolen car in which she was a passenger crashed during a high-speed police chase in Melbourne.

Mr Filipec said he knew little of his stepson's associates or business dealings.

In May 2000, members of the organised crime squad, homicide squad and arson squad were appointed to Taskforce Hydra to investigate the murder and other matters.

Taskforce head was Insp. John Kapetanovski

On August 3, 2000 the Herald Sun published an image of a man police were hunting over the car bombing.

It was also revealed that police had searched about 6ha of bushland in the Bunyip State Park the previous day looking for guns they believed were linked to Mr Furlan's killers.

Taskforce head Insp. John Kapetanovski said the search was sparked by new information which suggested weapons linked to the killers were buried in bushland about 10km north of Bunyip.

Members of the force response unit combed the forest with metal detectors and shovels but failed to find the guns they were searching for.

"It hurts every time I think about it,'' Mr Furlan's brother and business partner Fedele Valentic told the Herald Sun.

"I feel pretty down in the dumps about it and so does my mother.''

After two years of little progress, Mr Valentic said it was encouraging police were at a point where there was now hope his brother's killer would be caught.

"It would be like winning Tattslotto,'' he said.

Insp. Kapetanovski said the face image was of a person who may have been seen near Lorensen Ave or Mr Furlan's nearby home in Sydney Rd on the day of the bombing or in the weeks leading up to the killing.

"We're not sure what sort of activities he was taking part in at the time,'' he said.
The wanted man may be the driver of a red four-wheel-drive seen leaving the bomb scene 20 minutes before Mr Furlan died.

Police appeals soon after the bombing for public help to identify the driver of the early 1980s Toyota LandCruiser FJ60 with black tubular bullbar and chunky tyres were unsuccessful.

Insp. Kapetanovski said the task of sifting through the wreckage of Mr Furlan's imported Subaru Legacy was now complete.

Insp. Kapetanovski said taskforce members were also reviewing other information gathered in the investigation.

The wanted man was described as about 20 years old, 176cm tall, of thin to medium build, with brown eyes and brown hair that was in a flat top cut at the time.

Relatives had called on anyone who recognises the face image to call police and help end the family's agony.

Italiano's house was bugged after the killing but rather than leading to a murder charge, the taps led to him being charged with defrauding charity raffles.

Appearing in court on the raffle charges, Italiano said rumours have been rife about the car-bomb explosion which killed Furlan. 

After Juge Roland Williams lifted a suppression order on the the plea hearing in early September 2002, it was revealed by the Herald Sun that Italiano's lawyer Peter Chadwick said his client had once leased a car yard from John Furlan.

It was next door to Mr Furlan's Sydney Road home and, after the business went bust, Italiano had to pay out the lease.

Mr Chadwick told the court Italiano was investigated by police after Mr Furlan was killed and rumours spread through the car industry. "Those rumours are completely denied," he said.

September 24, 2002: Mick Italiano in court

Two hard-nosed businessmen who rigged the raffles of a children's charity admitted their fraud.

The County Court heard prizes such as luxury cars were sold at discounted prices to friends and relatives before the two raffles were conducted.

But the dodgy dealings of the Youth Motor Sport Foundation came unstuck when one of its directors was investigated by the homicide squad over the unsolved car bombing of a Melbourne mechanic.

The foundation was established in 1997 to help disadvantaged children "grow through motor sport" but its first raffle recorded a $20,000 loss.

Co-director Thomas Cherrie then suggested rigging the next raffle so a friend or relative would "win" a car. They would then pay the foundation an amount significantly less than the prize's retail price, the court heard.

Cherrie, who has pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to defraud but is yet to be sentenced, told police the rigging was as simple as putting the pre-determined winning ticket on top of the pile of tickets.

The first rigged raffle, in May 1998, resulted in Italiano's cousin Luigi Ponte, 33, of Keilor, "winning" a BMW 528 worth $100,000.

Mr Ponte, who paid the foundation $74,200 for the car, was found not guilty by a jury after arguing he had no knowledge of the fraud.

The same jury also found co-director Pasquale Laguda not guilty of two charges of conspiracy to defraud.

The court heard that in a second raffle a business associate of Italiano won a Mercedes-Benz SL 500 after paying $180,000 for the car, which had a wholesale value of $240,000.

Car dealer Mario Costanzo, 50, of Eltham, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud over the Mercedes-Benz and was fined $10,000 and sentenced to six months' jail, suspended for three years.

Costanzo had agreed to become involved because Italiano owed him $60,000, which he could not repay.

The court heard rigged foundation raffles resulted in another person "winning" a Bali holiday and a cleaner at Italiano's Richmond car yard "winning" a Mercedes-Benz.

Prosecutor Rob Just told Judge Roland Williams a total of $513,700 had been collected in ticket sales for the two rigged raffles.

Judge Williams sentenced Italiano, who pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy to defraud and who has lost his wife and business as a result of the offences, to 2 1/2 years' jail, of which all but six months was suspended for three years.

Judge Williams said he wondered about the original intentions of the businessmen in becoming involved in children's charities.

He said the dishonest scheming had resulted in the cheating of the public and the consequential erosion of public trust in such ventures that were intended to make money for good causes.