The man accused of killing schoolgirl Quanne Diec was put in witness protection and spiralled into mental illness after witnessing the aftermath of a triple-murder a year before he allegedly snatched the schoolgirl, Fairfax Media has learnt.
Quanne, 12, was plucked off a Granville street on July 27, 1998, just minutes after she left home to catch the train to Strathfield Girls High School.
More NSW News Videos
- Video duration
- 01:20
Man charged with the murder of missing ...
Man charged with the murder of missing schoolgirl
A 49-year-old man is charged with the murder of Sydney schoolgirl Quanne Diec after he handed himself into police on Sunday. Vision courtesy ABC News 24
Up Next
Cairns community mourns dead children
- Video duration
- 02:31
- Video duration
- 02:31
Cairns community mourns dead children
Cairns community mourns dead children
The Cairns community of Manoora mourns the stabbing deaths of eight children and the circumstances that led to it. December 20, 2014
Up Next
Why take the International Baccalaureate?
- Video duration
- 01:24
- Video duration
- 01:24
Why take the International Baccalaureate?
Why take the International Baccalaureate?
The International Baccalaureate is positioning itself as a challenging alternative to the Australian school leaving certificates.
Up Next
Ibis trade protein for carbs
- Video duration
- 01:51
- Video duration
- 01:51
Ibis trade protein for carbs
Ibis trade protein for carbs
A study from University of Sydney doctoral candidate Sean Coogan has shown that the white ibis' preference for carbs in Sydney is likely the result of adaptation to city life.
Up Next
Landry suspicious of Bell's relationship with Molan
- Video duration
- 00:42
- Video duration
- 00:42
Landry suspicious of Bell's relationship ...
Landry suspicious of Bell's relationship with Molan
Text messages read in court have revealed Kelly Landry "suspected something was going on" between her estranged husband Anthony Bell and NRL Footy Show host Erin Molan.
Up Next
The future of Moore Park
- Video duration
- 01:04
- Video duration
- 01:04
The future of Moore Park
The future of Moore Park
Kim Ellis, chief executive of Centennial Parklands discusses the start of public consultation for the future of Moore Park in 2015.
Up Next
Sydney airport announcement
- Video duration
- 01:14
- Video duration
- 01:14
Sydney airport announcement
Sydney airport announcement
The Federal government will announce in the budget how much it'll allocate to building the airport in Badgerys Creek after Sydney Airport Group chose not to build and operate it.
Up Next
Shooting victim's parents assisting investigation
- Video duration
- 00:54
- Video duration
- 00:54
Shooting victim's parents assisting ...
Shooting victim's parents assisting investigation
NSW police hope the parents of a five-year-old boy, who was shot at a home in Lurnea in Sydney's south-west, can shed light on a possible motive, Superintendent Peter Gillam has said in a press conference.
Man charged with the murder of missing schoolgirl
A 49-year-old man is charged with the murder of Sydney schoolgirl Quanne Diec after he handed himself into police on Sunday. Vision courtesy ABC News 24
After almost two decades, Vinzent Tarantino, 49, attended Surry Hills police station to be interviewed by detectives on Sunday.
Mr Tarantino, who has been a suspect for 18 years, was subsequently charged with enticing Quanne off Factory Street in Granville, when he was 31 and living around the corner in his family home on Second Street.
Related Content
He detained her with the intention of holding her for ransom but then murdered her by causing "substantial injury," police allege.
Police have returned to Mr Tarantino's childhood home in Second Street, Granville, for a second day on Tuesday to search for Quanne's remains.
It is just 700 metres from the Diec home, where Quanne's parents Ann and Sam have remained since 1998 in case their daughter walked back into the lives.
"If Quanne did return and we're not here, then she won't know where we have gone," Mr Diec said in 2003.
It's unknown what prompted Mr Tarantino to suddenly speak to police after 18 years. However he had allegedly been walking around Surry Hills with a 35-centimetre kitchen knife on Sunday in an episode that has mimicked other apparent breakdowns he has had in the past.
Until Sunday, Mr Tarantino appeared to live a normal life with his de facto partner, CBD clothing store manager Michelle, in her apartment in Sydney's inner west.
Yet, Fairfax Media can reveal that he allegedly went to great lengths to hide a chequered past.
He changed his name from Victor David Gerada to a mash-up of Pulp Fiction's creator, Quentin Tarantino, and the film's violent protagonist, Vincent Vega.
In 2006, he had a violent altercation with his then-partner when she found out that he had not disclosed the truth about his earlier life, according to official documents from the time.
His "earlier life" included a shocking incident in 1997, the year before he allegedly killed Quanne, in which he witnessed the aftermath of a triple bikie murder.
He was working as security guard at the Blackmarket Cafe nightclub in Chippendale when three Bandidos bikies were killed in a bloody shoot-out in the basement.
He was one of the first to see the three bodies and described to authorities the "appalling scene" that confronted him.
After giving evidence against the bikie gang, he tried to commit suicide and left the family home to go into a witness protection program, court documents show.
He moved around Sydney constantly to avoid people knowing who he was and spiralled into mental illness that became psychotic at times.
He had violent confrontations with police on several occasions, including throwing a Molotov cocktail at officers and spraying another with petrol, when they tried to prevent him from self harm.
However, Mr Tarantino's upbringing as a child in Granville had been relatively normal.
He was a sports-mad teenager in a family of three children and did well at school. He gave up a carpenter's apprenticeship to work as a Kings Cross security guard.
A neighbour in Second Street, Peter Youssef, told AAP on Monday that the Gerada family had lived in the Granville home since the 1960s and Vincent would sometimes come back to visit his father, Godwin.
In bizarre comments made to a magistrate in Central Local Court on Monday, he said his brother and partner had been murdered in retaliation "for what I have done".
His brother, Allan, and partner, Michelle, are both alive and well.