A man who gunned down a fruiterer on a Melbourne freeway is now facing life in prison after a jury found him guilty of murder.
Aaron Ong, 37, on Monday appeared in the Supreme Court of Victoria where he has been on trial for slaying Paul Virgona, 46, who was shot to death on Eastlink more than three years ago.
It took a jury about four hours to find Ong guilty of murder.
He fist-bumped his lawyer as he entered the courtroom and shook his head as the verdict was handed down.
In November 2019, Mr Virgona was driving along EastLink in the early hours of the morning when a stolen Mercedes pulled up alongside his van.
From the passenger seat, 11 shots were fired into Mr Virgona's van, with at least seven rounds hitting the respected father.
He was dead by the time police arrived on the scene minutes later.
Prosecutor says crime was 'calculated'
The Supreme Court has heard that no motive for the shooting has ever been aired and that Mr Virgona had no enemies or debts.
Prosecutors cannot say for sure whether Ong was the driver or the shooter, but argued that he was guilty of murder because he was in the car, something which the jury ultimately accepted.
In his closing arguments, Crown prosecutor Mark Gibson KC told the jury that Ong's crime was "calculated".
"Things weren't left to chance, it was not a spur of the moment or ad hoc crime," Mr Gibson said.
"It was well planned, well implemented and well executed."
In the hours before the murder, Ong and his accomplice, Josh Rider, left the Mongols outlaw motorcycle club in Port Melbourne.
It can now be revealed that Rider pleaded guilty to murdering Mr Virgona before the start of Ong's trial.
Ong and Rider waited outside Virgona's house for him to leave
Security footage seized by investigators showed Ong wearing a distinctive two-tone jumper which was later found in a bag left behind after a police chase.
Prosecutors put to the jury that the two men then travelled in convoy along the Princes Highway, one behind the wheel of a Volkswagen ute and the other in the stolen Mercedes, which they picked up along the way.
The men then left the Volkswagen at a rural address in Mooroolbark, in Melbourne's north-east, before taking the Mercedes to an address near Mr Virgona's home in Croydon, where they lay in wait for him.
The Supreme Court heard that the pair did not know their arrival in Mooroolbark was captured on a security camera that was hidden in a tree by a builder, and ultimately reported to police.
Shortly after 2am, the stolen Mercedes followed Mr Virgona as he left his home and entered Eastlink.
He was shot just minutes later.
The Supreme Court heard that after the shooting, the men returned to the rural address in Mooroolbark where they torched the Mercedes and left in the Volkswagen.
The trial also heard that the blaze destroyed all forensic material but that two false number plates survived.
The two men were then pursued by police in a high-speed chase as they fled before crashing the Volkswagen and running away on foot.
Ong will return to court next year for a pre-sentence hearing.
