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He was one of four
with close ties to the Flemington group who were shot dead by police between
March 1987 and April 1989.
Militano, 22, was killed on March 25, 1987.
His death was was followed by
those of Graeme
Jensen (October 11,
1988), Jedd
Houghton (November 17, 1988) and Gary
Abdallah (April 9, 1989).
Militano was gunned down by members of the
Armed Robbery Squad as they attempted to arrest him outside his Kensington flat.
He was shot at six times by three
members of the squad which
included hard line law enforcer Ray
Watson.
Militano was struck by a bullet
to the back of the head as he was running
away from police and died of his injuries.
The coroner found that at the
time he was shot he was pointing a gun over his shoulder at police.
Police wanted to question Militano
over a number of armed robberies at the time he was killed.
"I can remember it like it
was yesterday,"
Watson later said.
"We were trying to capture a
bloke over a series of horrendous armed hold-ups and there were a number of
shots fired. The shot I fired just happened to kill him. At that point, in that
instant when you see that man fall over, you know your life is about to
change."
Watson told the inquest he had been assigned to investigate a series of
armed robberies in North Melbourne and surrounding suburbs.
Informers told him Militano was
responsible for several of the heists, including a $54,000 raid on a Sunshine
bank.
He said that during surveillance
he heard a conversation suggesting Militano and two others had planned to commit
a hold-up on the day of the fatal shooting.
The day of the shooting, Watson
was tailing Militano in an unmarked police car.
Militano made a surprise U-turn
and the experienced officer decided to intercept him there and then.
Police intelligence had told him
Militano was seen tucking a hand gun into his pants before getting into his car.
As Watson stepped from his car,
Militano ran before turning and pointing a black hand gun at him. After firing a
warning shot and yelling: "Stop. Police!" the detective aimed at the
top half of the suspect's body and fired on him. The bullet hit Militano in the
head, as other detectives opened fire with shot guns.
Coroner Hal Halenstein said
Militano's actions had constituted a "barbaric, violent and fundamental
challenge to the standards of civilised community and way of life."
In finding
Watson justified in shooting down the armed bandit, Halenstein added:
"It is concluded that the deceased's challenge to the community by fire has
been reasonably met on behalf of the community with fire."
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