Murdered Kirkstall man Kevin Knowles linked to the deaths of five people

Knowles, 49, was shot dead on Friday at Kirkstall.

He had terrorised the local community and Warrnambool and district for 30 years.

It's understood a local put a sign on a gate at killer Travis Cashmore's home, who took his own life after slaying Knowles and his sidekick Benny Ray.

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The sign read: "Free. Trav, you and the Kirkstall community are now free from Kevin Knowles. RIP."

Knowles arrived in Warrnambool during the early 1990s, a known associate of Melbourne Pettingill family gangster Victor Peirce, who was gunned down in 2002.

And that's the way Knowles saw himself - a gangster.

Right from the start there were stories about Knowles and why he left Melbourne.

Retired Warrnambool detective Colin Ryan recalled local police were told about the mysterious death of Knowles' partner in Narre Warren, which led to him fleeing to the country.

It's not believed Knowles was ever charged, but since then there has been a trail of deaths associated with Knowles.

His long-time Warrnambool partner Olivia Dyson died in October, 2016.

She was suffering from cancer but there was a suggestion injuries she had previously suffered during a family violence incident may have contributed to her death.

In the end a court was told a pathologist couldn't make the link between the injuries believed to have been inflicted by Knowles and Ms Dyson's death.

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Knowles' next partner was Amanda Bourke.

In 2020 a State Coroner referred the 2016 death of Warrnambool man Steve Johnston, 57, to the Director of Public Prosecutions to consider whether criminal charges should be laid against Knowles.

Johnston died on December 8, 2016, after suffering multiple blunt force injuries, including a fractured skull.

"The evidence demonstrates that Kevin Knowles and (his girlfriend) Amanda Bourke were both involved in the assault and subsequent neglect of Mr Johnston that ultimately led to his death," the coroner decided.

"Having reached this conclusion, I will refer the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions to consider whether criminal charges ought to be laid against Mr Knowles only, as Ms Bourke is now deceased."

On January 18, 2018, Ms Bourke drowned at Killarney while swimming with Knowles.

At the time it was understood that Ms Bourke was considering leaving Knowles.

She was the only one who really knew what happened to Johnston.

Knowles has also been linked to the drowning death of Warrnambool's Shaun Kelson in August, 2020.

Kelson's body was found in the Hopkins River near Proudfoot's Boathouse.

A friend of Kelson said on Monday that Bourke had confided in his friend about the death of Johnston.

"Kevin was seen burning clothes the week after Shaun went missing. I truly believe Kevin Knowles was tying up loose ends," he said.

On Monday Knowles was scheduled to appear in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court to face charges relating to domestic violence.

He had almost 50 court appearances, close to 300 previously proven charges and was regularly jailed.

It is probably an unsurprising end to Knowles' life.

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