Melbourne gangland mafia lawyer was 'loving family man had heart of gold': partner
The partner of Melbourne gangland lawyer Joe 'Pino' Acquaro who was killed this week in a suspected targeted murder says he was a 'loving man with a heart of gold'.
The 55-year-old mafia lawyer was shot several times at 12:55am outside his Brunswick East restaurant Gelobar March 15 and was discovered by a garbage collector a few hours later.
The execution-style murder suggests Mr Acquaro was a lawyer who knew too much about Melbourne mafia secrets.
Purana task force are now assisting homicide detectives with the investigation because the they have specific knowledge in investigating organised crime.
Marisa Di Lisio, 51, told the Herald Sun that when she saw news reports a body was discovered at 3am on Phillip Street, she was hoping it wasn't her partner.
When she called the lawyers office to check, she found out her nightmare had come true.
"I wish I would wake up and it was all a dream. Unfortunately, it’s not a dream," she said.
“He knows we were soulmates and we will meet again in the afterlife."
Ms Lisio met Mr Acquaro when she was 16. They both went their separate ways before reuniting 20 years later, after splitting from their partners.
She describes the father of three as being a family man who absolutely 'adored' his children and had a 'heart of gold'.
“He was always there for me, and he loved my boys,” Ms Di Lisio said.
“He was a gentleman, he would take the shirt off his back for everybody. He would drop everything if someone needed a hand."
Ms Lisio said her partner was a private person, despite his connections to Melbourne's mafia underworld.
She also commented that he was a traditional Italian man who enjoyed sitting at home with his family and having an old-fashioned "plate of pasta".
Ms Lisio added the community was "shocked and bewildered" and "very disappointed to be losing someone with Pino's involvement in the Italian community".
"The fact that he was left amongst the rubbish is really the lowest of the low," family friend Sam Ioprete said.
Homicide detectives say the killing was a targeted, professional hit and a car was seen speeding in the area around the time of the shooting.
It is believed Mr Acquaro knew too many secrets about the Mafia and ignored warnings from police that he had a $200,000 bounty placed on his head last year.
But this bounty had increased to $500,000 a few months ago at the same time a foreign hitman entered Australia.
Authorities offered to place him in witness protection before suggesting he take his own security measures.
However shortly before his death Mr Acquaro told News Corp that he had "nothing to lose".
"I'm isolated. They can't physically harm me. They are trying to destroy my reputation, my family," he said.
"I'm not afraid of dying. They are not men of honour."
It is believed Mr Acquaro was involved in a dispute within an international organised crime group, Ndrangheta, which originates from Calabria in Italy.
The feud was reportedly sparked after Mr Acquaro felt isolated after falling out with Tony and Frank Madafferi, known as Melbourne's powerful pair of brothers.
Tony Madafferi accused the gangland lawyer of being a source of damaging revelations which was revealed in a major media leak that emerged in 2014.
"It appears to be common sense would tell me is a targeted attack so it doesn't appear to be anything other than that," Victoria Police Detective Inspector Mick Hughes said.
The homicide squad is waiting for an autopsy report to confirm how many times Mr Acquaro was shot and what type of gun was used.
Victoria Police wouldn't comment on reports they'd discovered a smashed mobile phone and a balaclava discarded near the site of Tuesday morning's slaying.
Who was Joseph Acquaro?
The mafia lawyer had strong ties within the Calabrian community and had been president of Melbourne's Italian Chamber of Commerce and the Reggio Calabria Club.
Mr Acquaro was allegedly renowned as the middle man between Australian politicians and senior mafia members.
Sources within the Calabrian mafia community claim the lawyer wanted to be 'Melbourne's godfather' within the society, but he was reportedly warned to remain a lawyer.
In choosing this path, he'd represented a raft of prominent gangland figures in Victoria and is the principal of Acquaro and Co solicitors.
Most recently he appeared for Rocco Arico, who's accused of extortion.
Mr Acquaro also represented drug barons Frank Maddaferi, Pat Barbaro and Francesco Madafferi, all jailed for their part in the world's largest ecstasy bust, which found over four tonnes of the drug in tomato tins headed from Italy to Melbourne in 2007.
He helped lobby former Howard government immigration minister Amanda Vanstone who overturned a decision to deport Madafferi.
In 2002, Mr Acquaro was stripped naked and pistol-whipped for two hours in Carlton’s Pizza in front of mafia member Mario Condello after he was accused of being a police informer.
It is believed the gangland lawyer tipped off police about a money laundering scam and police documents revealed how Mr Condello blamed Mr Acquaro for breaking the mafia’s code of silence.
