Aussie slain ex-gangland lawyer warned by police for Mafia target

The lawyer for many of Australia's biggest gangland figures, who was gunned down outside his Melbourne café this week, was allegedly told by police he was being targeted by the local mafia and had a huge bounty placed on his head.

Details surrounding the killing of Joseph Acquaro continued to emerge on Wednesday, after the ex-gangland lawyer was killed in an alleged drive-by shooting in front of his gelato business on Tuesday morning.

According to reports, police warned the 55-year-old that a contract for his murder had been increased from 150,000 U.S. dollar to 373,000 dollars. But he had refused their offers of help.

Victoria Police also reportedly offered to place Acquaro in witness protection but the well-known member of the Melbourne community, a past president of the Italian chamber of commerce, declined.

Investigators are now looking into whether Acquaro's death is linked to a long-running dispute with the Madafferi brothers, Frank and Tony, who have been referred to in local media as Melbourne's "godfathers".

The Madafferis head up the Australian chapter of the Calabrian organized crime syndicate, the "Ndrangheta or honored society".

Police believe the motivation for the murder may have stemmed from rumors that Acquaro had turned informer to the Australian media about the inner-workings of the group.

But another unnamed underworld source reportedly told News Corp on Wednesday that Acquaro's murder centered around a turf war as he had ambitions to takeover the leadership.

A different report, however, suggested that he was pulling away from his duties as an adviser to the mob on legal matters, and had sunk almost 600,000 dollars into his gelato operation in the city' s north.

Despite changing his appearance to make himself less recognizeable to potential bounty hunters, Acquaro apparently told News Corp he had no "fear" of mob retribution before his cold-blooded murder.

"I'm isolated. They can't physically harm me. They are trying to destroy my reputation, my family. I'm not afraid of dying. They are not men of honor," he said earlier this year.