Des Moran and Judy Moran leave a Melbourne court in April 2004.
Gangland figure Des “Tuppence” Moran uttered the words “Oh shit” as a person fired three shots at him outside an Ascot Vale cafe last year, a court has heard.
Retiree Peter Kirshener told a pre-trial committal hearing at Melbourne Magistrates Court today he shared a coffee with Mr Moran just minutes before he was gunned down at the Ascot Vale Pasta and Deli Cafe on June 15.
Moran’s sister-in-law Judy Moran, Suzanne Kane, her de facto Geoffrey “Nuts” Armour, and a second man, Michael Farrugia, are all charged with murder.
Mr Kirshener said as Des Moran went to leave the cafe, he heard what he initially thought was a car back-firing.
“Someone yelled, ‘Hit the floor,'” he said.
“I could see figures and shadow. I saw what I thought was a hand with a gun.”
Mr Kirshener told the court three shots were fired and Mr Moran fell to the ground, before three more shots were fired.
“I saw him … slumped sort of down. All he said was: ‘Oh shit,'” Mr Kirshener said.
He said he believed the shooter was holding a square gun, and was quite small.
“I thought ‘Oh, he could be a jockey.'”
The committal hearing was delayed this morning after problems with disabled access for Judy Moran, who is in a wheelchair.
Her lawyer, Jim Stavris, told the court the 64-year-old fractured her hip last year, and had been wheelchair-bound for a month.
The hearing was delayed for more than an hour while an alternative court was found.
