Terrifying footage released for the first time shows Melbourne underworld figure George Marrogi chasing three men, one of whom he murdered.
Marrogi will remain in prison for more than three decades after a bid to overturn his murder conviction was dismissed on Wednesday.
The 34-year-old launched an appeal in March, arguing unrealistic police timelines and poor circumstantial evidence had landed him with a wrongful conviction over the daylight murder of Kadir Ors in 2016.
Marrogi arrived at Campbellfield Shopping Plaza in a stolen red Holden Commodore on September 26.
The never before seen footage shows him pulling up at a bus stop near the shopping centre, chasing three men – Mr Ors, Sam Abdulrahim and Alex Harrouk – and firing several bullets in their direction as they run away from him.
Melbourne underworld figure George Marrogi will remain in prison for more than three decades after a bid to overturn his murder conviction was dismissed
He shot Mr Ors with 13 bullets, including five shots as the victim lay wounded on the ground outside an Officeworks store.
Marrogi faced four trials over the murder, with a jury finding him guilty in December 2021. He was sentenced to 32 years in prison.
His lawyers claimed he may have been indirectly involved in the shooting, by providing the Commodore or bullets, but he did not pull the trigger.
They pointed to gaps in the prosecution’s circumstantial case during the murder trial, including issues with DNA evidence and their timeline of Marrogi’s movements after the shooting.
However, three Court of Appeal Justices rejected Marrogi’s appeal on Wednesday, finding it was open to the jury to convict him on the evidence.
Marrogi (pictured at the car) arrived at Campbellfield Shopping Plaza in a stolen red Holden Commodore on September 26, 2016. Also pictured are Kadir Ors, Sam Abdulrahim and Alex Harrouk
Marrogi fired several bullets in the direction of Kadir Ors, Sam Abdulrahim and Alex Harrouk as they run away from him (pictured)
‘In our opinion, the evidence painted a compelling picture of guilt,’ Justices Phillip Priest, Cameron Macaulay and Kim Hargrave wrote in their judgment.
‘The contention that the jury’s verdict is unreasonable or cannot be supported by the evidence must be rejected.’
The judges said Marrogi’s DNA being found on a cardboard bullet box inside the Commodore was very significant and suggested he ‘handled the box very soon before the murder’.
Marrogi will not be eligible for parole until he is in his mid-60s, as his minimum jail term was increased by five years in February after he was caught running a drug empire with his girlfriend while in prison.
Earlier this year it was revealed Marrogi masterminded the $50million drug trafficking operation while caged in one of Australia’s toughest jails.
Marrogi (pictured) shot Mr Ors with 13 bullets, including five shots as the victim lay wounded on the ground outside an Officeworks shop
He was aided in his drug business by ‘cleanskin’ girlfriend Antonietta Mannella, who pretended to be his lawyer to help him move a massive drug shipment.
It was the use of her phone, which was bugged with secret police listening devices, that unravelled the alleged crime operation.
Mannella, 28, of Mickleham, pleaded guilty to helping Marrogi run his business from Barwon jail.
The County Court of Victoria heard Mannella had been the best friend of his dead sister when she hooked-up with the jailbird.
Until then, Mannella had lived a faultless life and had previously handed out food to the homeless on Melbourne’s streets for a charity established in memory of Marrogi’s sister Meshilin, who died from complications related to Covid-19.
The court heard Mannella and some of Marrogi’s cohorts attempted to move 800 litres of the drug Butanediol from South Australia to Victoria.
Marrogi and Mannella pleaded guilty to attempting to traffic a large commercial quantity of illicit drugs.
The $50million plan had hinged on a brazen scheme that saw Mannella pose as Marrogi’s lawyer.
While all prisoner phone calls are monitored and recorded by Corrections Victoria, the pair banked on a well known exemption that allows unmonitored calls with legal personal, which are regarded as privileged.
In circumstances that were not explained, the court heard a phone used by a real lawyer representing Marrogi diverted to Mannella whenever he rang it.
Mannella would answer the phone by impersonating ‘Cassidy’ in a poor attempt to throw off prison snoops.
The pair would then speak in code as they went about organising the movement of four 200-litre drums of Butanediol – the key ingredient in gamma hydroxybutyrate, or GHB.
George Marrogi (pictured) will spend most of his life behind bars for his crimes
Charity worker Antonietta Mannella (pictured) pleaded guilty to helping Marrogi run his business from jail
The court heard Marrogi was able to convince a man who owed him cash to organise the shipment, which revolved around a 71-year old truck driver driving the drums across the border into Melbourne.
The elderly driver was picked-up by police as he drove into Horsham in Victoria’s west.
The mission had been doomed from the start.
The court heard Australian Federal Police had Mannella’s phone tapped and had listened to every conversation she had with the crime boss.
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