By Erin Pearson
It’s not often a murder case ends with two men in prison but so few answers for the victim’s family.
But that’s the heart-wrenching reality for those who knew and loved fruiterer Paul John Virgona – an innocent man gunned down as he drove to work along EastLink on a pitch-black November morning.
Paul Virgona was shot dead inside his van.Credit: Nine News, Supplied
Crucial questions remain unanswered almost four years after the tragedy.
While the Supreme Court acknowledged Mongol bikies Josh Rider, 33, and Aaron Yokran Ong, 37, had killed the wrong man, we don’t know who their intended target was, how it went so badly wrong, or their motive. The murder weapon has never been found, and it’s even unclear which of the pair fired the fatal shots.
The sadness of those left behind to pick up the pieces was palpable in court in June, when Virgona’s wife and children stood in front of his killers, bodies trembling, to reveal the grief that now consumes them.
His Croydon family told the judge they were stuck in a never-ending nightmare, longing for a hug from the much-loved suburban footy coach who they knew would never return.
On Thursday, wife Antoinette Virgona sobbed on the court steps after the killers were sentenced, as she revealed the torment her family had endured. She also thanked the prosecution and police for their “relentless and persistent” investigation.
“Paul was an amazing person. He was a loyal and hardworking man who in all of this was innocent,” she said.
“We will miss Paul every day of our lives. He was just everything.
“We are relieved of the outcome and that it’s behind us now.”
Aaron Ong arriving for his sentencing.Credit: The Age
On Thursday, Rider and Ong were jailed for 30 and 35 years respectively for what the Supreme Court’s Justice Christopher Beale described as murder of the worst kind.
“Mr Virgona had no criminal association. There is no known reason why he was targeted,” the judge said.
Virgona, 46, was driving to work about 2am on November 9, 2019, when two men, Rider and Ong, pulled alongside him in a stolen Mercedes-Benz on EastLink and fired 11 rounds into his van.
He died at the scene.
Paul Virgona’s wife, Antoinette Virgona, and family speaking to media after the sentencing.Credit: The Age
“The impact of your actions has been horrendous for Mr Virgona and his family. An innocent man has had his life cut short,” Beale told Rider and Ong.
Rider, from Port Melbourne, had been a member of the Mongols outlaw motorcycle gang for about 10 years and Ong, of Kilsyth, an associate of the bikie club for about five years at the time of the shooting.
The trial heard Rider and Ong had waited outside Virgona’s family home in Croydon for about two hours before following the father as he left for work.
The killers followed seconds behind Virgona’s work van in a stolen grey high-powered Mercedes-Benz as he travelled through the Melba Tunnel en route to the Epping market.
Josh Rider appears at the Supreme Court in June.Credit:
As the two vehicles exited the tunnel, Rider and Ong drove alongside the white van and fired 11 bullets into the driver’s side door.
Virgona died at the scene, his seatbelt still fastened and his mobile phone illuminated in his lap.
“You parked the Mercedes in a nearby street with view of [Virgona’s] house. You waited. You followed him until you murdered him,” Beale said.
Rider and Ong then fled the scene, torching the stolen Mercedes in an empty paddock at Mooroolbark before making off in a Volkswagen Amarok, about 2.30am.
When patrolling police gave chase shortly after 3am, the getaway car was dumped in the middle of a road in Bayswater, with Ong dropping a bag of clothing as they fled on foot.
Killers Josh Rider (left) and Aaron Ong.
Last week, the two officers who gave chase and guarded the crucial bag of evidence, laden with gunshot residue with the killers’ DNA – Detective Leading Constable Justin Hunter and Senior Constable Emily Chell – were recognised at a Victoria Police awards ceremony.
“Your pursuit led to the offenders abandoning vital evidence, which you secured at great personal risk to yourself, which ultimately led to their identification, prosecution and subsequent conviction for murder,” Detective Inspector Dean Thomas said at the ceremony.
“Without these members acting quickly to secure evidence that led to the identification of the offenders, a successful prosecution would have been much more difficult.”
In November 2022, on the eve of his trial, Rider pleaded guilty to murder. In December, following a trial, a jury found Ong guilty of murder.
Prosecutor Mark Gibson, KC, earlier told the court that Virgona was a devoted family man, who had been with his wife for 22 years. He was appointed head coach of the Croydon Football Club’s under-19s side shortly before he was killed.
At the time, he was also winding up his business to spend more time with family and only had two weeks left.
Virgona, a grocer, ran his own business in Thornbury and serviced hospitality venues across metropolitan Melbourne.
A ute is seen on the Mountain Highway in Bayswater.Credit: AAP
In addressing Rider on Thursday, the judge noted the 33-year-old had told a psychologist in custody he was “considering” leaving the Mongols. However, he believed the club had been “very supportive” of him and his partner since his arrest.
Beale said Ong’s patched membership with the Mongols since 2017 had proved “disastrous”, and encouraged him to sever all ties with the club.
“Unless you leave the Mongols, there will be a price to pay for that support. Not only by you but the community,” Beale told Ong.
Beale sentenced Rider to 30 years’ jail with a non-parole period of 21 years.
Ong was sentenced to 35 years’ jail with a non-parole period of 24 years and six months.
The sentence for the Virgona family will last a lifetime.
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