Victor Peirce
{{Short description|Australian criminal}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Use Australian English|date=May 2011}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Victor Peirce
| image_name =
| image_size =
| image_caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1958|11|11|df=y}}
| birth_place = Australia
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2002|5|1|1958|11|11|df=y}}
| death_place = Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| alias =
| charge =
| conviction = Drug trafficking
| conviction_penalty = 6 years' imprisonment
| conviction_status = Murdered
| occupation = Waterside worker, drug trafficker
| spouse = Wendy Peirce
| parents = William George "Billy" Peirce and Kath Pettingill
| children = 5
}}
Victor George Peirce (11 November 1958 – 1 May 2002) was an Australian gangster from Melbourne, Victoria. Peirce was a member of the Pettingill family, which was headed by matriarch and former Richmond brothel owner Kath Pettingill.
Walsh Street police shootings
{{main|Walsh Street police shootings}}
In 2005, Peirce's widow, Wendy Peirce gave an interview to Australian media detailing how her husband planned and carried out the 1988 Walsh Street police shootings, a crime for which he was acquitted by jury along with three accomplices after she failed to give truthful evidence in court.{{cite news | title = Father's fury at Walsh St admission | work = Herald Sun | date = 2 October 2005 | url = http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,16784895%255E2862,00.html | access-date = 19 December 2007 }}
Death
Peirce was shot dead in a car parked opposite the Coles supermarket in Bay St, Port Melbourne on 1 May 2002.
His funeral was held on 9 May 2002, at the Saint Peter and Paul's Parish Church in South Melbourne. Father Bob Maguire conducted the service. Peirce was later buried at the Altona Memorial Park. Present was Jason Moran, former running mate of slain gangster Alphonse Gangitano. Moran was a suspect in the murder of Gangitano, who was shot dead in his Templestowe home on 16 January 1998.{{cite web | title = Altona Memorial Park - Victor George Peirce | url=http://www.altonamemorialpark.com.au/virtualMemorial/Memorial.asp?PID=194997&PgPicNum=1&PgMsgNum=1 | access-date = 19 December 2007 }}
On 22 June 2007, Victoria Police arrested Faruk Orman in the western suburb of Sunshine, alleging he was the driver for Peirce's killers.
In September 2007 Vince Benvenuto—brother of Frank Benvenuto, an underworld identity reputedly under the protection of Victor Peirce and murdered May 2000—was arrested for drug trafficking. The Age reported that when asked whether he was arrested as a result of the Purana investigation, police replied: "He's a suspect in relation to the murder of Victor Peirce." But it was hitman Andrew "Benji" Veniamin who shot Pierce dead. Veniamin claimed "If I don't get Victor he'll get me first". An unnamed man who drove Veniamin to the killing was found guilty of the murder in September 2009 and was sentenced in November 2009 to a minimum of 14 years in prison, which took into account more than two years he had already been in custody;{{cite news|title=Getaway driver in Victor Peirce murder jailed for 20 years|first=Melissa|last=Iaria|url=http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/breaking-news/getaway-driver-in-victor-peirce-murder-jailed-for-20-years/story-e6frea73-1225803710289 |newspaper=The Advertiser|date=25 November 2009|access-date=17 April 2011}} in 2013 it was revealed{{clarify|date=September 2021}} that it was Orman.{{cite news|last=Butcher|first=Steve|title=Murder count dropped against driver in killing of Peirce|url=http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/murder-count-dropped-against-driver-in-killing-of-peirce-20130418-2i32v.html|newspaper=The Age|date=19 April 2013|access-date=27 March 2016}} However, Orman's conviction was quashed in 2019, due to miscarriages of justice by his former lawyer and notorious police informant Nicola Gobbo.{{cite news|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-26/faruk-orman-walks-free-over-lawyer-x-scandal/11348676|title=Faruk Orman walks free after murder conviction quashed over Lawyer X scandal - ABC News|newspaper=ABC News|date=26 July 2019 |access-date=28 November 2021}} Veniamin was later killed in 2004 by Domenic "Mick" Gatto. Gatto told the court that it was in self-defence, and was acquitted by a jury.{{cite news|last=Rennie|first=Reko|title=Gangland suspect denied bail|work=The Age|date=27 September 2007|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/gangland-suspect-denied-bail/2007/09/27/1190486474212.html|access-date=19 December 2007}}
In television
In 2008, he was portrayed by actor Andrew Gilbert in the series Underbelly. He was also portrayed in the 2011 Australian television series Killing Time.
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
{{Portal|Australia}}
- [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/09/1078594363575.html?from=storyrhs Murder hits home for widow of gangland killer], 2004-03-10, The Age
- [http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/arrest-over-gangland-murder/2007/06/22/1182019318254.html Charge over underworld figure Pierce], By Leo Shanahan, 2007-06-22, The Age
{{Pettingill family}}
{{Melbourne gangland killings}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peirce, Victor}}
Category:Australian bank robbers
Category:Australian murder victims
Category:Australian drug traffickers
Category:Victims of the Melbourne gangland killings
Category:People murdered in Victoria (state)
Category:People acquitted of murder
Category:Criminals from Melbourne