Roberta Williams shares tribute to hitman Benji Veniamin who was fatally shot by Mick Gatto 20 years ago

Roberta Williams has shared a heartfelt tribute to her friend and hitman Andrew Veniamin on her birthday and the 20th anniversary of his death.

Veniamin, known as ‘Benji’, was shot dead in the back of a now-defunct pizzeria, La Porchetta, on March 23, 2004, at the age of 28, by Melbourne gang figure Mick Gatto.

Mrs Williams, the widow of former gangster boss Carl Williams, turned 54 on Saturday but took the opportunity to pay tribute to Veniamin by sharing a series of never-before-seen photos of him.

Veniamin was also her husband’s trusted unofficial bodyguard.

Ms. Williams said on Saturday that there were “20 birthdays that I didn’t get to celebrate.”

“Every year on this day, instead of celebrating my birthday, I am so broken and devastated that you were taken from us on this day,” she wrote.

“I miss you so much and nothing and no one will ever heal me or fill the void you left behind.”

She said Veniamin “lit up the room” and “made everyone happy.”

“There hasn’t been a moment when you’ve made us laugh,” she said.

‘I hope you are proud and I hope you shine and know that I am doing the best I can with what I have left of us.

“No one will ever compare to you, yourself or even come close.

‘There was, is and there will be only one, you.’

On the day Veniamin died, Gatto had asked to meet him at the pizza restaurant.

Williams took to Facebook on Saturday to write an emotional message (photo) in memory of her friend

Veniamin (pictured) is seen with deceased drug lord Carl Williams

Things between the pair became heated after Veniamin pulled out a gun.

Police accused Gatto of Veniamin’s death, claiming he had set a trap for his victim, who was once a suspect in the death of Gatto’s close friend Graham ‘The Munster’ Kinniburgh.

Gatto was acquitted of Veniamin’s murder, despite admitting that he fatally shot him twice in the head in self-defense.

Ms Williams had married drug lord Carl in 2001 and the couple were still together at the time of his death in 2010.

Williams was beaten to death in Barwon Prison in 2010 at the age of 39 by fellow inmate Matthew Charles Johnson.

He was sentenced to 35 years behind bars for the murders of gang rivals Lewis and Jason Moran and drug trafficker Mark Mallia.

Ms Williams had denied suggestions of an affair between herself and Veniamin when the gangland war took center stage during a season of the TV series Underbelly.

“I would say Andrew was my soulmate, yes. We had a very close bond and I loved him dearly,” she told several new media outlets in 2009, but denied an affair.

‘He had a very soft side when it came to family. We were always together.

“He would pick my girls up every Tuesday and take them to religious education, then take them home, wash them, put them in their pajamas, feed them and put them to bed.

‘He used to lie with one of my little girls. She always revered him.”

Gatto was acquitted of Veniamin’s murder (pictured), despite admitting he fatally shot him twice in the head in self-defense