A Comanchero bikie gang associate shot dead by police outside an ex-girlfriend’s house has been laid to rest in a shiny metal coffin.
Liam Scorsese – who adopted the last name because of its Hollywood qualities – was buried by close family and friends at a Gold Coast cemetery on Monday.
Scorsese, 31, was gunned down by junior officers in Brisbane’s east about 9.50am on Sunday, February 25 after a confrontation with cops.
He had allegedly threatened the officers with a knife and yelled ‘shoot me!’. Police said they had tried to subdue him with a Taser.
But it had failed and the cops fled down the street, with a senior officer claiming they were ‘in fear of their lives’ when they opened fire.
Farewell, Liam Scorsese: The 31-year-old was laid to rest in a shiny casket during a service on the Gold Coast yesterday, about two weeks after he was shot by police
Scorsese’s partner, Chireez Beytell, was in attendance and said she couldn’t ‘explain the pain’ of seeing her beloved being lowered into the ground for the final time
Scorsese’s friends laid flowers and sprinkled petals over the grave site during the service
His friends were pictured hopping on top of Triumph motorbikes at the cemetery
Scorsese’s lover, the cosmetic tattoo businesswoman Chireez Beytell, sat in the front row during Monday’s service as his casket was lowered into the ground.
Friends laid flowers and sprinkled petals over his casket.
Some of Scorsese’s mates brought their upmarket European-style motorbikes along with them to the service.
Following the service, Ms Beytell paid tribute to her lover on social media.
‘I can’t explain the pain and how broken I am to have watched you get lower(ed) into the ground,’ she said.
The service came only months after he was freed from Gatton prison after serving three months behind bars for the brutal bashing of a bus driver.
Love lost: Scorsese, seen here with his partner Chireez Beytell
Scorsese’s casket this week, captured during his funeral service
Day of the shooting: Forensics police and officers at the crime scene in Wakerly, in Brisbane’s eastern suburbs
‘For those who knew him he had the personality of a movie star’
After the shooting, Scorsese’s relatives spoke out about how he had been shot dead like a ‘rabid animal’.
His grieving father, Peter Maloney, wrote a passionate open letter to the city’s Gold Coast Bulletin newspaper.
He said while his son was ‘not a saint’, he was not heartless, either.
‘My son Liam was troubled at times,’ he wrote.
‘He was at times, mentally unhinged, with extreme highs and diabolical lows.
‘For those who knew him he had the personality of a movie star.
‘He was a business man, entrepreneur and loved life to the full.’
Mr Maloney pointed out his son had paid compensation to the bus driver he assaulted.
He also described how he acted as a father-figure for a friend’s son whose father passed away.
Mr Maloney said it was ‘convenient’ for police to say their Taser had not worked.
The shooting is under investigation by Queensland Police’s Ethical Standards Command and the state coroner.