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A Mongolian executioner promised a judge he would put a life of violent crime behind him 22 days before he murdered a greengrocer in a failed hit on his way to work, a court heard.
Josh Rider, along with co-defendant Aaron Ong, fired a hail of 11 bullets at Paul Virgona’s van, killing the father of two, on Melbourne’s EastLink motorway in November 2019.
Mr Virgona, 46, died of blood loss on the motorway after being struck by seven bullets from a semi-automatic handgun, with evidence pointing to Rider being the shooter.
But just three weeks earlier, Rider, now 32, told a judge presiding over a case in which he brutally beat a St Kilda man who had changed after finding love with a glamorous model.
Josh Rider, along with co-defendant Aaron Ong, fired a hail of 11 bullets at Paul Virgona’s van, killing the father of two, on Melbourne’s EastLink motorway in November 2019.
Three weeks before he murdered Virgona, the Mongols’ enforcer, Rider, claimed in a brutal assault court case that his relationship with Melbourne model Chloe Damiani had given him a new direction in life. In the picture, Rider with Mrs. Damiani
Rider claimed that his relationship with Melbourne model Chloe Damiani, which began in 2017, had given him a new direction in life, the Herald-Sun informed.
A letter delivered to the County Court about the attack claimed that Rider had undergone a ‘general’ personality transformation at the time he was dating Ms Damiani.
The beloved couple are pictured in a series of photos on their social media accounts, including one at a party, along with two cakes in the shape of Mongolian biker vests, with the words “Happy birthday Josh, I love the Mongolian nation.”
Ms Damiani described Rider, who pleaded guilty to the ‘reckless murder’ of Mr Virgona, ‘my ride or die’ (Pictured Ms Damiani with Rider)
The vehicle Paul Virgona was in when Ong and Rider shot him seven times.
With the post, Ms. Damiani described Rider as “my ride or die.”
Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting any wrongdoing on Ms Damiani’s part.
Partly due to Rider’s sincere promise, he was given a two-year community correction order, despite having beaten Nizan Bouhamra so hard that he needed a metal plate inserted into his head.
A county court judge stated that Rider, who had previously been convicted of firearms offences, had “reasonable prospects for rehabilitation.”
Within days of the sentencing, Rider was planning a brutal murder at the Mongols’ clubhouse in Port Melbourne, the Victorian High Court has heard.
The court was told that Rider and Ong followed Mr. Virgona from his home in a stolen Mercedes with cloned license plates.
The hit was a case of mistaken identity: the pair were tasked with shooting a member of the rival Finks gang who lived down the street from Mr. Virgona, a greengrocer with no gang ties.
Rider strongly denied any involvement in Mr Virgona’s death, but with DNA evidence and CCTV footage locating him at the scene, he changed his guilty plea on the eve of his trial.
Rider, a Mongolian enforcer, promised a judge he would put a life of violent crime behind him 22 days before he assassinated fruit vendor Paul Viirgona in a failed hit.
A letter delivered to the County Court regarding the attack on Nizan Bouhamra claimed that Rider had undergone a ‘general’ personality change at the time he was dating Ms Damiani.
Rider pleaded guilty to “reckless murder,” as opposed to “intentional murder,” in a plea deal last month, but Ong fought a murder charge.
One condition of the deal was that the prosecution would not seek a life sentence for Rider.
Ong went on trial and was found guilty of intentional murder on Monday.
A plasterer, Ong’s criminal record includes drug possession and manufacturing, and offenses involving ammunition and proceeds of crime.
Despite Rider’s plea agreement, Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale refused to provide Rider’s legal team with an indication of sentencing based on his reckless murder plea.
“If I were to give an indication of sentencing, the court could be seen to be part of something contrived, even unfair,” Judge Beale said.
Judge Beale considered statements from Virgona’s family and friends opposing the plea agreement.
But Rider’s attorney, Dermott Kann, said the plea agreement stands.
‘He will do it [plead guilty] on the basis … of reckless murder and … of other understandings as to how the matter would be handled in general and that there is no suggestion of life imprisonment.’