The 'brutal execution' of fruiterer Paul Virgona (pictured) on a busy Melbourne freeway may have been a case of mistaken identity
A fruiterer gunned down while driving to open his morning market stall may have been murdered because the assassins thought he was his bikie neighbour.
Paul Virgona, 46, a devoted father, died in a hail of bullets at the wheel of his van on the Eastlink Freeway at 2.20am on November 9, 2019.
His murder came after tit-for-tat shootings between the Finks and Mongol bikie gangs escalated in Melbourne in 2019.
Police documents show Mr Virgona lived close to a Finks member who was the intended target in Croydon in Melbourne's east, the Herald Sun reported.
Two other Finks members, Josh Rider and Aaron Ong, were charged with attempted murder over Mr Virgona's death and a third was charged with accessory after the fact.
Rider, 30, and Ong, 35, allegedly drove a stolen Mercedes to Mr Virgona's Croydon home and waited until he left for a market in Epping about 2am.
The 46-year-old small businessman was found shot dead inside his white work van on the city's Eastlink Freeway (pictured) at Donvale about 2.20am on November 9, 2019
Josh Rider (pictured left and right), 29, from Port Melbourne, was charged over the murder of Paul Virgona. He is a known member of the Mongols gang and is believed to have followed Mr Virgona from his Croydon home
Rider and Ong were accused of following him onto the freeway, pulling up alongside him, and opening fire on the van.
Mr Virgona was hit seven or eight times from 11 rounds fired into his van, prosecutor Angela Ellis told Melbourne Magistrates Court in March.
He was found dead in
