A man who brutally slayed a key underworld figure by bashing him to death with the stem of an exercise bike while behind bars has appeared in court.
Matthew Johnson was jailed for life in 2011 after murdering gangland boss Carl Williams while in the gym at Victoria’s Barwon Prison.
Dressed in prison reds, Johnson appeared in the Court of Appeal via audio visual link on Wednesday from a cell in the maximum-security jail.
He is appealing his conviction for Williams’ murder.
Johnson was reading the newspaper before he was interrupted by judicial registrar Deirdre McCann, who asked if Johnson could raise his hand if he could hear proceedings, to which he did.
No grounds for the appeal were given in court.
Johnson has served a decade of his minimum sentence of 32 years behind bars over the shocking crime that was captured on CCTV.
He killed Williams because be believed he was a snitch who was leaking information to Victoria Police about the 2004 murders of police informer Terence Hodson and his wife Christine.
The gangland boss provided statements to Victoria Police implicating himself, a former policeman and a high-profile hitman in relation to the Hodson murders, which remain unsolved.
Johnson was also the feared leader of the “Prisoners of War” gang, known for a hatred of prisoners who helped police or informed against anyone charged with crimes.
The now 48-year-old argued at trial that he acted in self-defence, though Justice Lex Lasry labelled the claim “fanciful” in his sentencing remarks.
Johnson’s matter will return to court on February 24 for another directions hearing.
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